The Other Uchiha
by Senwich
Summary: She stuttered in fear. 'I...I said that...I'm sorry, I took the wrong potion and now...uhm, Uchiha, Itachi is back to his twelve year old self...' ItaSaku
1. How It All Began

**Senko:** I can't help it! This just popped into my head! I had to write it down! I blame the ItaSaku phase I'm undergoing! T-T

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**Important Note:** Also, this takes place when Naruto and Sakura are fourteen, which means that Sasuke is still with Orochimaru. I'm changing some thing around, like making Sakura Tsunade's apprentice BUT having her, at the same time, working with Morino Ibiki. Also, Itachi will be twelve while Sakura is fourteen (although he's way stronger than her). In other words, this romance _is _between a twelve-year-old and a fourteen-year-old. 

**Summary:** Sakura accidentally took the wrong potion and drugged Itachi. Now he's turned back into his twelve-year-old self and his mind is changed back to before he killed his clan! ItaSaku

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**Disclaimer:** No own. 

**Chapter 1**

Two years since Sasuke's departure and Sakura had not only become a powerful and successful medic-nin, but also worked with Morino, Ibiki. And that's when the story began.

It all began one fateful day.

The news of it spread fast throughout the bustling city of Konohagakure: Uchiha, Itachi had been caught. He would have just been executed, but the Hokage decided that she wanted to find out Itachi's reason for the massacre of his family. So, Ibiki had to interrogate Itachi. Unfortunately, another missing-nin of the Leaf was also caught and Ibiki, along with the Torture Squad, were to try get the missing-nin to reveal to them the hideout of a very powerful ninja. Ibiki decided that this was a more important task than questioning the infamous Uchiha prodigy. After making sure Itachi was drained of chakra and after tying Itachi with a special chakra rope to prevent any escape attempts, he gave Sakura the task of interrogating Itachi.

So here she was in the Hokage's special room of potions. Tsunade had told her to do whatever she needed to do to find the answer to Itachi's reason for killing his family. Tsunade had always been great with not only healing but also creating potions. She was the best in the world at making potions; her potions were undetectable and odorless. Even _the_ Jiraiya wouldn't be able to realize Tsunade's drug in his food.

To make sure Itachi wasn't dying, Ibiki ordered for Sakura to give him some food. And then it hit her. She would go to Tsunade's potion room, take a Truth potion, and drug Itachi's food. Then Itachi would be forced to tell her the answers! It was genius and foolproof. Sakura scanned the hundreds, if not thousands, of potions.

_Transformation to Cat Potion_

_Healing Potion_

_Sleeping Potion_

_Paralysis Potion_

_Love Potion_

She finally found what she was looking for at the top of the shelves: Truth Potion. She reached for it and was about to grab it when…

"SAKURA-CHAN!" a pair of arms pulled her into a tight hug.

"Naruto!" she exclaimed, pushing him away.

He laughed. "Sorry. Anyway, today, January 23rd, is Shino's birthday! We're all gathering at a ramen restaurant on the intersection of Spiral Avenue and Sand Street to celebrate. Please come by, ok? The party will be in a couple hours at 7 P.M. and it'll last until 9 P.M. We'll really appreciate it. I know you're very busy and all…"

Sakura couldn't help but slightly smile at Naruto. "Yeah, I'll come by."

"Thanks!" he said happily and then leaving her alone.

She quickly unscrewed the top and poured the transparent drops into Itachi's food. Then she capped the bottle and placed it back on top of the shelf and left the room. What she should have done was check the bottle, because the bottle wasn't labeled Truth Potion. It was labeled with another title, a horrifying title.

_Transformation - Youth Potion.

* * *

_

Sakura gently opened the door to see Itachi tied to a chair. A table was set in front of him with another chair opposite of where he sat. Sakura sat down and placed the food before him.

"Ibiki-san said that you haven't eaten since your capture. I thought you'd be hungry. I hope you like the food I have chosen for you," she said, breaking apart the chopsticks. "I'll feed you since your arms aren't free."

He stared at her, not knowing why she seemed to care enough to get him food.

She smiled, using the chopsticks to pick up the rice. She held it to his mouth, but he refused to eat it. She sighed hopelessly. "Come on, eat the darn food. I spent freaking five bucks for it, so you better eat it! Either eat it or I will make sure you eat it. Don't make me use force; you know I have the upperhand in this situation."

After a few more seconds, his stubbornness finally subsided and he opened his mouth to eat the food. Sakura saw this as the beginning of her interrogation and began to speak while feeding him. "So, they say you're part of Akatsuki?"

"Hn…"

"I hear you were the original heir to the Uchiha Clan."

"…"

"Ever since I was small, I envied the Uchiha Clan. Not only were its member very strong, but they were also good-looking. The Uchiha Clan wasn't as big as the Hyuuga Clan, so the members seemed to be close to each other. I wanted to be part of a ninja clan. I'm the only person in my family that chose to become a ninja; no one supported my decision," she reflected back on her memories.

"…"

"And I always wondered, why did you kill your clan? Your clan seemed perfect. Wealthy and omnipotent –"

"Excuse me, miss…"

"Yes, Itachi?" she looked up at him.

Shock and horror filled her face at the scene.

* * *

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Tsunade raged. 

Sakura squint her eyes at the dangerous chakra emitting from Tsunade. She stuttered fear, "I-I-I said that…I'm sorry, I took the wrong potion and now…uhm, Uchiha, Itachi is back to his twelve-year-old self…"

"Where is he now?" Tsunade asked.

"I left him in the waiting room…"

"Great," she said sarcastically. "What are we going to do now?"

"I'm really, really, sorry, Tsunade-shishou!"

Tsunade sighed. "It's alright. Anyway, I've come up with an idea. Since he has amnesia, we will forget his actions. He will now be, again, a Konoha shinobi. And since this is your fault, he will be living with you."

"What! Why me? Why not Naruto, or Kakashi, or the Hyuuga Clan?"

"Naruto? Please, do you want the poor boy to die of starvation? Kakashi is busy on missions and don't forget that the Hyuuga Clan, for a long time, was in rivalry with the Uchiha Clan."

"But I-"

"No buts, Sakura. Your mistake, you pay the price. I'll give you extra money for you to give to him. It won't be that bad. He's not a psychopath killer anymore," Tsunade assured her.

"….I-I guess….." Sakura muttered.

Sakura left the Hokage's office and returned to the Hokage's waiting room to see Itachi sitting there in his large clothes. He looked at her and she smiled back.

"Hey, Itachi," she said.

"Can I go home now? Kaa-san must be worried."

"Uhm…well, you see, Itachi, you've been in a coma for a while now," she lied. "During your comatose, your whole clan was…massacred."

"…even…kaa-san?"

"Yes, I'm sorry…" she said. "Well, Sasuke wasn't killed. He managed to escape but…he…he left Konohagakure to seek out the murderer."

Itachi remained quiet. No emotions were visible on his face.

"So, Tsunade-shishou told me that you are to live with me!" she said, forcing a smile on her face. "Don't worry, it's gonna be great! And…uh, well, I'm a medic-nin so you won't have to worry about wounds or injuries…or, yeah…"

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Haruno, Sakura," she replied.

"Thank you, Haruno-sama, for allowing me to live with you. I'll try not to be a burden to you and your family."

Her eyes softened at his kind consideration. "Just call me Sakura and…I live alone."

She left the Hokage's Tower and he followed behind her.

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**Senko:** What do you think? Please review! 


	2. January

**Senko:** It's come to my attention that…this story might be boring right now. There's not a lot of drama yet lol

Also, in the previous chapter, towards the end of the chapter, Sakura refers to Sasuke as just "Sasuke" when it should have been "Sasuke-kun." That was my mistake. I forgot to type in the "–kun."

**Review Responses**

**Neon kun** and **theoneandonlydarkpowderpuff:** My best friend told me that I should have just made Itachi turn fourteen because it would be kinda weird having Itachi be twelve v.v and then I decided to make Itachi just have amnesia (that ways he'd still be older) but I remember I already read a fic where Itachi had amnesia and becomes Sakura's boyfriend. So in the end I decided to just make Itachi twelve…to….add drama lol **Midnight-miko66:** No! I am not like that! O.O;; I intend to finish ALL my ItaSaku stories! Hehe I already have the ending in mind;D **SweetAssassin:** Hehe that's for me to know and you to find out ;P **Sakura-nin:** Sakura's fourteen :o **KagomeAngel91:** Senko-sama? Wow…er….wow…never had anyone called me that before o.O;; -feels honored and speechless- **Ninjaxbunny:** Actually, that was a really original review….cause it stood out from the other ones? Lol I don't have cookies…but I just made cupcakes (really I did, and surprisingly it didn't burn hehe) so here –gives cupcakes- **Hao'sAnjul:** Oh crap! Are you serious? Dammit T-T oh well, the younger the more innocent, I guess lol

Thanks to **Silent Kunoichi aka. Fiona …, w1cked angel, Gina01, UchinaTsukiTen, Kiyokko-San, mitsuki-no-kimi, xxxILoveFyexxx, animeunknownnarutofan, bloodstainedmoon, animemistress419, The Violent Tomboy, Ivory Black aka Torri-Chiob…, can't tell you, Frozen Fire, Heartless Ghost, Magical-Inkable-Pen-Of-The-…, raven, XUchihaSakuraX, EnV, Tsumii, Infinite Inficio, ItaCh1's GuRLie, Sylvok,** **.chie.x.sieka., mfpeach, Russian Princess, Auel Nader** and **miwa** for reviewing!

**Disclaimer:** Ugh…in every chapter? C'mon! –cries-

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**Chapter 2**

Itachi wandered aimlesslythrough the streets of Konoha. After returning to Sakura's place, Sakura had given him the money that Tsunade gave to her to give to him. She had simply told him that the Godaime-sama said that the money was for clothes and such things. After taking off the odd and oversized cloak he had on (the Akatsuki cloak), he left to shop for clothes that would fit him and restock on weapons. He wondered why he was wearing such large clothes, but dismissed the topic as soon as it was brought up. After buying his necessities he returned home.

"Ah! Itachi! You're back! I cleaned your room, it's right across from my room," Sakura greeted, smiling. "Hurry up and get cleaned up because Shino-san's birthday is going to start! It's mandatory for you to attend because you need to meet all the other ninjas!"

Itachi set his things down. "How is it mandatory for me to meet them?"

Sakura almost frowned, but kept smiling. "Well, you don't really have to…but it'd be a good idea. You're going to be living with them in the same city, so you should at least get to know them. But oh well, I guess if you don't want to meet them it's all right. We'll be at the ramen restaurant on the intersection of Spiral Avenue and Sand Street just in case you change your mind, ok?"

She left. Itachi brought his things down the hall and opened a random door. The room was pure white and plain. A simple bed was set. He dropped his things and examined the room. After taking out his clothes and things and fixing his room, he visited the room across of his room. This room's walls were white but everything inside, from the bed sheets to the curtains, were all pink. He assumed that it was Sakura's room and walked inside. The first thing to catch his eyes was a single picture on top of Sakura's dresser. Picking it up to get a closer view, he noticed that it was a group picture of her, a blonde boy, a silver-haired man, and a frowning boy that resembled him.

After taking a quick shower and getting dressed, Itachi lied on his bed not knowing what to do. Then a thought struck him and he got up and left the house.

* * *

Sakura entered the ramen restaurant and was met with many smiling faces. Naruto, Shino, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Hinata, and Kiba were all there.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed and jumped up and hugged her.

She gently pushed him away. "That's enough, Naruto. Oh yeah, happy birthday, Shino."

"Thanks," said Shino.

"Um…" Sakura began. The group's eyes and attention turned to her. She gulped before announcing, "This is really difficult for me to say…"

Ino gasped. "Are you pregnant?"

"WHAT!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're not pregnant, are you? You're only fourteen!"

Sakura gritted her teeth in anger. "No. It's something else. I-"

"Oh, my god!" Ino yelled. "You don't know who the father is!"

She couldn't take it anymore.

"You are watching too many of those stupid soap operas, you pig!" she yelled. Immediately, she calmed down. "As I was saying, uh…Itachi might be joining us."

"_What_," the group said at once.

"Please, hear me out!" she pleaded. She quickly glanced around and when she knew that Itachi wouldn't anywhere near to hear her, she spoked again. "Because of Naruto I made a mistake and accidentally transformed Itachi into his twelve-year-old self. He doesn't remember anything past his twelve years of life. I told him that he was in a coma and while he was in a coma his whole clan was killed and that Sasuke-kun left to find the murderer. Tsunade-shishou told me that he would be living with me and that he'd, again, be a ninja of Konoha."

Everyone stared with confused expressions, wondering whether or not to believe this unbelievable story.

"Is this supposed to be some sort of gift for me?" Shino asked. "It's very clever."

"No! I'm not joking around!" Sakura said. "It's true –"

"Sakura…" a voice said from behind.

Sakura whirled around to see Itachi standing behind her. "Hey, Itachi, so you came after all. Meet Naruto, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Shino."

Itachi looked at them and nodded, acknowledging their presence.

The group looked shocked at Itachi, they were speechless.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Uh…um, it's just…so unbelievable that you're b-back," Hinata said.

The group nodded their heads, agreeing with Hinata's statement.

"Have a seat, you two!" Ino said, faking a smile to hide her fear. She scooted over to make space for the two.

Sakura took a seat by Ino and Itachi sat next to Sakura. For a moment silence dominated the atmosphere until a waitress came by to take their order. When she left, Sakura decided to speak.

"So…anybody going on a new mission?"

"OH! Me! Me!" Naruto exclaimed. "The old hag is giving me…a B-ranked mission! I'm escorting this really hot girl back to her village!"

Shikamaru scoffed. "Yeah, let Naruto be your bodyguard. It's the fastest way to die."

"What!" Naruto glared. "I am a very reliable bodyguard!"

"I'm sure Ino's dead flowers, which were stomped on and pulled out by a five-year-old because you were busy showing off your bunshins to Konohamaru, agree," Shikamaru stated sarcastically.

Ino's high-pitched gasp filled the room. "You said they were stolen by a…a mean and fierce monster with monstrous hair and a pitchfork!"

"He actually meant a mischievous little girl with long, brown braided hair and a yellow umbrella," Choji said, and then returning to munch on his bag of chips.

Ino screeched, almost jumping over the table to strangle Naruto, but she was restrained by Sakura's arms around her waist pulling her back down.

"Calm down you pig!" Sakura yelled.

Ino calmed down and sat back in her seat when the waitress came by with their orders. Ino smiled innocently. "Thank you!"

The rest of the conversations after this were slightly, _slightly_, less bizarre and calm. Naruto was boasting about his B-ranked mission. Shikamaru seemed to be asleep. Choji, as usual, was eating chips (since he finished his beef ramen already). Hinata was silently eating. Ino was going on about how she needed to reapply her makeup. Akamaru was trying to convince Kiba that the ramen was poisonous. Then there's Shino, the birthday boy, who just sat there in silence.

Sakura turned to Itachi and smiled. "Having fun?"

He hesitated before answering. "I guess."

Because of Sasuke, Sakura was able to understand the "cold-and-reticent" language. She deciphered that Itachi's reply meant "what the hell is going on" and "I regret coming here."

The night soon came to an end and Sakura and Itachi returned to their home. Itachi, just as Sakura had expected, went straight to his room and remained there. Sakura also went to her room since she had already eaten at the restaurant and had no need to cook dinner. The house was so quiet, and Sakura wondered if Sasuke's family lived in silence or not. A gentle knock on the door was heard.

"Come in," she said.

The door opened and Itachi appeared. Sakura, who was reading a scroll, sat up on her bed and gave him her attention. "Anything I can help you with?"

"I want to know more about Sasuke."

"Oh…well, what do you want to know?"

"Where is he?"

"We…we don't know where he is at the moment," she lied. "The Hokage sent a team to retrieve him but they failed, and that was the last time any Konoha shinobi saw Sasuke-kun."

"Is he powerful?"

"Well, he did graduate at the top of the class, and he is well-known for surviving the massacre."

"How did he survive?"

"That I do not know. A few times he mentioned his family being killed and he said something about the killer letting him live."

"What relation do you have to him?"

"We were just teammates."

"I see. Thank you," he said, turning around to leave. Before he exited the room, he was stopped by Sakura's voice.

"You're not planning on trying to find him, are you?"

He gave no reply, but just walked out of the room. Sakura flopped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She would now have to talk to the Hokage and ensure that Itachi is given no mission involving Sasuke or Orochimaru. Someone might just die and there really would only be a sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan. The younger brother wants to kill the older brother while the older brother, who does not remember anything, wants to find the younger brother and possibly bring the younger brother back to Konohagakure or help the younger brother take revenge… Sakura hoped that Itachi wouldn't try to help Sasuke take revenge. Things were beginning to get complicated now.

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**Senko:** Sorry this chapter is really short. But I just thought that I should end the chapter here lol anyway, please review! 


	3. Complications

**Senko:** All the complicating things and drama will be coming in the very near chapters. For right now, I'm focusing on building Itachi and Sakura's (invisible) bond. So, I'm sorry if you get bored or something.

**Responses to Reviews**

**Ninjaxbunny:** I super-uber-duper LOVE you:D you rock and you're always reviewing and you and I share love for….CUPCAKES AND COOKIES! Yay! Meh dun have any cows T-T let's go find your cows!** Infinite Inficio:** OMFG LMFAO! That's freaking hilarious! xDDDD** Neon kun: -**gets interrogated by the mental doctors and the doctors declare that I am wayyyy toooo insane for their hospital- TT-TT

Thanks to **theoneandonlydarkpowderpuff, mitsuki-no-kimi, bloodstainedmoon, .Homicidal.Psychotic.Insane…, kitty, blacksheep18, 1taCh1's GuRLie, Russian Princess, SweetAssassin, Sylvok, Auel Nader, Kiyoko-San, Ivory Black aka Torri-Chiob…, Gina01, EnV, 01xDevilshBABYY, Hao'sAnjul, Heartless Ghost, tailqundamns, animemistress419, DevilsLittleSister, Madical-Inkable-Pen-Of-The…, XUchihaSakuraX, Riley-Mayori, Midnightfoxkaori, yinyang-sensei, **and **psychochild22** for reviewing!

**Disclaimers:** No own. Duh.

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**Chapter 3**

"This is rather complicating now," Tsunade said, leaning back against her chair.

"Yes," Sakura agreed. "How are we going to do this? All potions eventually wear off. Are we going to keep drugging him? And I think that Itachi will really go and seek out Sasuke-kun. But Sasuke-kun wants to kill Itachi."

Tsunade leaned forward and rested her hands on her desk, her face placed on her folded fingers, much like Sasuke. "To be honest, I really don't know what to do. I'm thinking about drugging him continually. It's either that or we kill him when the potion expires."

Shizune stood next to Sakura, holding Ton-Ton in her hands. "Hey…you know what's funny? If Itachi goes out and finds Sasuke and tries to help Sasuke take revenge by killing him."

Tsunade burst into a hysterical laughter. "I would love to see that, but since I'm Hokage I have to say that it would be awful if that happened."

Sakura shook her head in disbelief. "I cannot believe you, shishou. Why did they even elect for you to be Hokage?"

"Because they wouldn't want a Hokage that molested every other citizen or a Hokage who is a peeping tom," Shizune answered.

"Oh," Sakura said. "That's right."

"Well, Sakura, you just go ahead and focus on your training for now. I'm going to drink…I mean, think about this," Tsunade said.

"Right," Sakura remarked sarcastically as she made her way out of the Hokage's office.

* * *

A normal day was what Sakura considered this to be. The regular training in the morning, afternoon in the hospital, and evening free time. Today she had worked an extra shift (like many other days) and it was evening now. An exhausted Sakura dragged herself home. She had made breakfast and left some for Itachi, but that was way back in the morning. She wondered if the older…er, younger? Uchiha ate yet. When she opened the door and entered her house, she was met with a shocking surprise.

"Sakura," Itachi greeted, looking up to acknowledge her while placing down a bowl on the kitchen table.

Sakura gaped at the food set on the table. Every dish looked scrumptious and one hundred percent edible. He, a guy, a criminal, a person from a wealthy household who probably had maids working for him, made food that she herself could not generate at all.

"You have lots of ramen here," he said, taking a seat. "But I wanted a proper meal. I hope you didn't mind, Sakura?"

"No, no," Sakura said fast. "I don't mind at all. And…w-wow…"

"Take a seat," he said. "It's edible. You've been gone since morning and that girl…the blonde one, I saw her earlier and she invited me to lunch. She said you probably wouldn't be home until evening, like always. I decided to make dinner for you."

Sakura took a seat, overjoyed with how caring this S-class criminal was. "That's so…sweet, Itachi! You didn't have to do this, though."

"It's the least I can do for you for allowing me to live with you."

A feeling of euphoria rose from within her and she swore if only he hadn't been a criminal, she would have fallen for him. Taking in her fingers the chopsticks, she began to dig in and eat the delicious food Itachi made.

She couldn't deny that she had at first been scared of him. Not really frightened but just slightly scared. The thought that he had taken many lives before made her question whether of not he would take her life as well. When she thought about it, though, she realized that she should consider his younger self. In her memories, she recalled thinking of him as a nice elder brother when she saw him on a particular day giving Sasuke a piggy-back ride when Sasuke had sprained his ankle. Of course, that was the first time she ever saw him.

It had barely occurred to her right now about how less she knew about Itachi. Indeed that had been the first time she saw him, but that was one of the very few times she ever saw him. Perhaps he was overloaded with missions? She wouldn't know. Shortly after finding out he was Sasuke's elder brother, news had spread that he had murdered his entire clan except for Sasuke.

"I didn't know you can cook this well," Sakura said, pausing from eating to speak. "I always thought that since you came from such a wealthy clan and household, you probably had maids working for you like the Hyuuga Clan."

"O-kaa-san had her own special way of cooking," he said. "She didn't like the way the maids cooked."

"I see. You learned from her?"

"Yes."

"She must be one great cook."

He didn't reply for a moment. "Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering…if I was in a coma for five years, why has my body remained the same."

_Damn. He really is a genius._ "Tsunade-shishou was called forth to put a spell on you to make your body remain the same."

"Why?"

"I do not know. Five years ago, I was only seven and didn't even know you exist."

"Yet you knew of the spell on me?"

"Tsunade-shishou was teaching me the same spell, so she revealed to me that the same spell was cast on you."

"I see."

Sakura silently sighed in relief. If Itachi continued to do anymore of this genius thinking, he might just come to realize that everything was a lie. A part of her feared him finding out the truth, another part of her feared she wouldn't come up with the correct lie, and the remaining part of her feared that he would kill her.

"So what have you been up to?" Sakura asked, attempting to strike a conversation.

"Godaime-sama has assigned me a mission."

"Oh, really? That's great. What will you do for this mission?"

"Some ninja by the name of Lee will be working with me as we accompany a civilian back to his village."

"That's great! Lee-san is a great ninja! He's a jounin, you know? Say, what rank are you? Or did Tsunade-shishou have yet to assign you your rank?"

"She said I'll be taking my same rank as before."

"Let me guess, chuunin?"

"ANBU captain."

Sakura gawked in awe. _ANBU captain! _At his age, she was but a helpless genin! "A-ANBU captain! Are you serious?"

"Yes, ANBU captain," he said indifferently.

Sakura's eating pace increased. "I-I-I'm just shocked! I can't believe someone like you is living with me! Hey if you're ANBU captain, why are you going on a mission with a jounin? Shouldn't you be on mission with ANBU?"

"Godaime-sama wanted to see if I am still capable of performing missions well, so she assigned me a C-rank mission with a ninja who can help me if I'm in trouble. She doesn't see any reason to send ANBU with me."

"Oh."

* * *

The next day Itachi and Lee left on their mission. Sakura accompanied Itachi while he met Lee and it was obvious he was restraining himself from killing Lee when Lee raise up an extra green spandex outfit and said Itachi should dress up like him and the two of them should be twins. Fortunately, Itachi had much self-control. She said a quick "bye" and wished them luck.

* * *

_Uchiha, Itachi_

Sakura carefully read over the contents of the file. It was her lunch break now and she decided to read Itachi's record. After going through Konoha's ninja records, she finally found his file, sat down at an empty table and ate while she read about Itachi.

_Background: From the prestigious Uchiha Clan. Graduated as top rookie of the class, mastered Sharingan at age 8, became a Chuunin at age 10 and shortly after that achieved Jounin and ANBU captain rank._

_Number of D-rank missions: 10_

_Number of C-rank missions: 14_

_Number of B-rank missions: 6_

_Number of A-rank missions: 3_

_Number of missions failed: 1_

A small feeling of fear rose inside her. No one had ever really talked to her about Itachi before. All she knew about him was that he killed his entire family and Sasuke wanted to him for that. She didn't know he was actually _this_ powerful. For him to achieve that much at the mere age of twelve, she was impressed; at his age, she had tons of D-rank missions and only one B-rank mission. She wondered if many others feared the infamous Uchiha or admired him instead.

* * *

The mission for Itachi proved to be very simple yet also difficult. It was simple because all he had to do was escort a civilian back home, but it was difficult because he had to painfully listen to Lee ramble on about the color green and about "the flame of youth." An exhausting three days past before he made it back to Konohagakure.

"Welcome back!" a female voice greeted him when he opened the door to his house. It was Sakura. She took his hand and pulled him inside the house, a smile on her face. "Look, I made dinner!"

Itachi, exhausted and hungry, took a seat across from Sakura at the dinner table and began to eat.

"So, how was your mission?"

"Good."

"Were you attacked? Were you hurt? Are you feeling okay? Do you need me to heal you?"

"No, no, yes, and no."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm just slightly dizzy. Sleep will make me better."

Sakura looked at him and walked over to him, placing her hand on his forehead. "Maybe you're catching a cold? It's still winter."

"Hn."

He stared at her questioningly when he saw each of her hands placed on both sides of his head. He knew she was going to heal him, and at first he had thought about pushing her away, but the warmth that radiated from her hands was so gentle. A warm feeling of tranquility flowed through his mind, enrapturing and enchanting. He wondered if this was how patients felt when they were being healed, since he hardly ever got hurt or needed healing. He almost felt disappointed when she stopped and pulled away from him. She smiled.

"No more dizziness, right?" she asked.

It barely occurred to him that the dizziness had stopped. "No."

* * *

**Senko:** I apologize if this chapter is too short. I actually have the next chapter three-fourths of the way done and I was going to combine the two to form one chapter, but I remembered that the other chapter is saved onto my other computer and I'm too lazy to go and send the file over.

I have a SasuSaku oneshot out (dedicated to Neon Kun because she told me to write it and she's an awesome writer xD) Check it out!

Which reminds me, for all you good readers who are reading this note right now, I will have an ItaSaku oneshot out on…Itachi's birthday! Of course, chances are that since it's for his bday I'll be releasing it around June 9th o.O;; unless you guys super-mega-ultra-hyper want me to release it now lol and guess what? I even have a doujinshi version of it :D

LASTLY, I made fanart for "Crimson Stigmata"! I'm sure many of you know that wonderful story, yes? Well, it's on my deviantart account. Check it out! My deviantart is animesenko. :)


	4. February

**Senko: **I would like to humbly thank all the people who reviewed. You guys rock! Yay! Go you! Lol.

**Responses to Reviews**

**sakura-nin:** I don't know how people get doujinshis. However, a while ago I was searching up some dooujinshis and I found a site that sold some. If you want, I can try and find it again. If you go to anime conventions, I'm sure that some people sell doujinshis there. Post the fic sometime this month eh? Well…hm…I dunno…I was thinking that I would post it when I finish the first three or four pages of the doujinshi and then post the preview of my doujinshi on my deviantart so people can see it after they read the story **Heartless Ghost:** I am touched by your review**! DevilsLittleSister:** Itachi is…two years younger than her lol **theoneandonlydarkpowderpuff: **Hm. Your review really makes me want to post it right now…but read what I wrote for sakura-nin **ninjaxbunny:** I super-uber-duper-mega-ultra-hyper love you:D Yay you found your cows! I was hyper earlier but it seems the soda I drank has worn off v.v now I must…go and eat ice cream lol really, I inspired you? REALLY? AWWWW…I feel proud of myself! YOU ROCK! **.H.P.I.A.L.:** The chapter they fall in love…I will not tell. Because frankly…I myself do not know o.o;; will the potion wear off? I do not know as well o.O;; I let my imagination soar until…I think it soars enough lol **Hao'sAnjul:** Hey, you know what I just noticed? YOU ROCK:D You're always reviewing! SO, thankies a bunchies! **sasuke101:** o.o;; -updates- **neon kun: **YOU ARE AN AWESOME WRITER! lol dun deny it, neon kun! Dude :D u need to update -.- UPDATE, DANGIT! **nadeshiko-uchiha: **Hi hi! I'm glad that you like my fanfic! Thank you very much for reading and reviewing!

Thanks to **Riley Mayori, Ivory Black aka Torri-Chiob…, blacksheep18, EnV, ItaItaParadise, animemistress419, Gina01, Sakura'sHope, Sylvok, Mafical-Inkable-Pen-Of-The-…, Aki, Midnightfoxkaori,****lonewolf4ever, and XxaoshixX** for reviewing!

**Disclaimers:** No own. Duh.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Are you sure you're feeling well?" Sakura asked.

Itachi simply nodded. A couple weeks had passed by and Itachi was walking down the street beside Sakura. He had just returned from a mission. As usual, she greeted him at the entrance of Konoha. He returned unscathed and in perfect condition as always, but Sakura persisted in ensuring herself that Itachi definitely _was_ feeling well.

"Okay, then. Say, don't you think it's just beautiful right now?" she smiled, skipping forward in front of him.

His eyes glanced at her for a split second before he forced them to look away. It had begun that particular day when she healed his dizziness. The longing to feel the serenity she emitted consumed him to the point where he felt as though he was ensnared in a beautiful trap. He couldn't help but fall deeper into this web and soon he found that he entered the stage of infatuation.

_Those glimmering emerald eyes that looked at him._

_Those silky pink strands of hair that flowed in the wind._

_Those soft fingers that touched him._

Indeed, this was a beautiful trap.

"…tachi…Itachi?" Sakura stared at him.

Itachi blinked and looked at the girl who stared at him with worried eyes. "What is it?"

"Oh, good! I thought there was something wrong with you. You didn't answer me and you were staring at something," she smiled in relief.

"Hn," he grunted.

"Anyway, don't you think it's beautiful right now?" she asked.

"No," he answered bluntly.

She frowned, "Really? But it's the most romantic month right now: February! Look, all the stores are decorated so cute with pink, white, and red." She pointed to stores, which were all decorated with hearts and any signs of love.

"It's the stupidest month," he stated.

"But it's so pretty and cute!" she argued.

Itachi glanced at the mass amount of girls who were looking at him. Sakura muttered a quick "oh" as she realized why he believed it was the stupidest month. Suddenly, a girl with short, light brown hair approached the two.

"Uhm…I-Itachi-san, here," she blushed and handed him a Valentine card. "It's from me. Happy Valentine's Day."

Itachi indifferently took the card. "Thank you."

Sakura smiled. Itachi was really different from Sasuke. Although both of them despised having fangirls, Sasuke pushed his fangirls away while Itachi still acknowledged them. The girl turned to Sakura.

"Sakura-san, I have a friend who wants to give you something," she said. "C-Can you please see him?"

Sakura smiled politely. She was used to things like this. Ever since the previous year, she'd been having a good deal of fanboys. "I'm sorry, I'm busy."

The girl frowned sadly, "But…can't you please? He really admires you and this is the first time he's ever liked anyone."

She couldn't resist the girls' sad eyes. Sighing in defeat, she muttered, "Alright. I'll see him."

The girl smiled. "He's over there," she pointed to a nearby bench where a boy with black hair sat on.

Sakura glanced at Itachi quickly before making her way to the boy. When she approached, a feeling of boredom and irritation arose inside her; it was enough having fanboys her age, but here sat one who looked at the age of eleven or twelve!

"Hi," she greeted him.

"Hello, Sakura-san," he said.

"Your friend said you had something to give to me?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," he said, reaching inside his bag and taking out a card. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Thank you," she said. She was about to head back when his voice stopped her.

"Sakura-san, will you go on a date with me?" he asked.

She smiled politely, "I'm sorry."

She turned around to leave, but he grasped her right hand. She looked down at her hand and then up at him. "Please, let me go."

His grip tightened, "It's just a date, Sakura-san. I heard that you don't go on dates with anyone at all. You rejected all the guys that asked you out. That Sasuke guy is gone now, so why are you trying to save yourself for him? Don't you know people like me think of you all the time?"

Sakura frowned. She wanted so badly to punch him with her monstrous strength, but she couldn't. Doing so would result in consequences she didn't desire. "I simply don't like you. Now let me go."

His bangs covered his eyes, "One date is all I ask."

"Just let me go. If you don't, I won't hesitate to force you to let me go," she threatened.

Silence filled the tense atmosphere.

_One second…_

_Five seconds…_

_Twenty seconds…_

She gritted her teeth in anger. She opened her mouth to yell at the foolish boy, but her chance was stolen away.

Her fragile hand was released when a foreign hand grabbed the boy's hand. It was Itachi.

"It's rude to disobey a female's wish," he whispered.

The boy glared at Itachi and Itachi looked back indifferently. After a few seconds, he walked away. Sakura blushed.

"Uh…thank you, Itachi," she muttered.

"You're welcome," he said. "You really don't go on dates with other guys?"

"No, I just don't like them."

"You don't have to like them. I believe he was talking about my brother, right? You like my brother?"

"Correction, I used to _love _your brother romantically," she corrected him. "Now, I love him only as a friend."

"If so, why not give others a chance? That boy seemed nice," he joked.

Sakura laughed, "Like I said, I won't go on a date with someone I don't like. Also, he's younger than me; I don't date guys who are younger than me."

"I see…" he muttered. Disappointed filled him.

"Itachi, are you going to be busy?" she asked.

"No, why?" he asked, curious as to why she asked if he was going to be busy.

"Let's hang out!" she beamed.

"…hang out?" he had never done any of this "hanging out" or whatever it was. Such a word was foreign to him and could be found nowhere in his dictionary. He'd heard of it, though. "What do you mean by that?"

"You know, spend time together. In a way, it's almost like a date!" she beamed.

He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You just said you don't date younger guys."

"True, but I don't consider you just any other guy. This is a friendship date," she smiled.

He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel. A friendship date wouldn't hurt anyone, but somehow a small part of him didn't want a friendship date. It craved something more, something meaningful. He inwardly cursed as he remembered why he so despised the teen years.

"Two beef ramen," the waitress said as she placed the two bowls or ramen in front of Sakura and Itachi. The two were at Ichiraku.

"So, Itachi, how is everything going?" Sakura asked, breaking apart the wooden chopsticks.

"Fine," he answered.

She sighed. "You know, you and Sasuke are so alike. You guys are reticent and straight-to-the-point."

"Hn."

The rest of the time at Ichiraku was spent in silence, much to Sakura's dismay. Next up was…roaming around Konohagakure. Although Itachi was quiet, his responses to her pointless comments on items in the stores ensured her that he was paying attention to her. She silently smiled to herself. Even though the two Uchiha brothers looked alike and were silent, Itachi, on the other hand, paid attention and cared enough about her to spend time with her. It really made her wonder how such a guy can become a criminal.

"Itachi, Itachi!" she pointed to an object and turned her head to face him.

He walked up to her to see what she was so excited about.

"Isn't it pretty?" she stared at the object. It was a simply yet beautiful two-piece necklace in the shape of a heart.

"Hn," he didn't see what was so good about the necklace. Girls, what was with them and hearts and romance? His attention diverted to her again when he heard a small gasp from her.

"I have to be at the hospital!" she exclaimed. "I totally forgot! I'm so sorry, Itachi, I wanted to spend today with you but I forgot Tsunade-shishou wanted me to work at the hospital today since one of the medic-nins will be absent."

"It's alright," he said. "Sakura?"

"Yes?" she looked at him.

"Can I come and 'hang out' with you at the hospital?" he asked.

Sakura's eyes slightly widened for a second. She was shocked and had never expected this from an Uchiha, "Really? You want to hang out with me?"

He shrugged. "I have nothing better to do."

Sakura beamed. "Sure, you can come and hang out with me!"

The two started to walk together to the hospital and suddenly it hit Itachi – why the hell did he just volunteer to hang out with her? That was when he knew he no longer despised the teen years, he hated the teen years. He realized he had a small crush on her, yes, a _small_ crush only.

* * *

"So, what do want to do?" Sakura asked. "I'll be moving around from room to room. Are you just going to follow me?"

"I suppose," he muttered.

"This is great! You'll be, like, my assistant!" she exclaimed in joy.

"I guess, yeah," he said.

"Okay, onward to our first patient in room 105!" she beamed and started towards the room.

Itachi inwardly smirked, amused by her childlike behavior. In the couple of weeks he had lived with her, he had come to hold an amount of respect for her. She wasn't as powerful as him, as the difference in their ranks proved, but she was powerful and intelligent. He admired the way she was able to balance her ninja life and her real life. For him, he wasn't able to balance the two and he succumbed to his father's wish of having only a life of training, mission, and power.

The two arrived at room 105 and entered. He recognized the blonde patient.

"You, pig!" Sakura screeched.

"You're my nurse?" Ino exclaimed. "Eeeww! I don't want an ugly forehead girl as my nurse!"

The two glared at each other and then burst into laughter. Itachi just simply couldn't understand what kind of friendship could have possibly formed between the two.

"OH! Meet Itachi, my temporary assistant!" Sakura said, pointing to Itachi. "So, anyway, what's wrong with you?"

"I just got back from a mission. I just have a cut on my stomach, but I'm sure it's healing. The nurse that came with us said she did the best she could. I really just wanted to go home since I'm feeling well, but Godaime-sama sent me here," Ino said.

"Oh, ok. Well then lift up your shirt," Sakura said.

Ino held a horrified look. "HELLO! There's a guy in here!"

"Just enough for me to see the wound, you pig!" Sakura said.

Ino grunted, not admitting her own ignorance, and lifted her shirt up a bit. After a minute of examination, Sakura brought her hands down to Ino's stomach and a greenish aura began to heal Ino. Ino was shocked to find that the pain was now gone and the bleeding stopped.

"A-Amazing…you healed me!" Ino exclaimed.

Sakura smiled proudly. "Well, I assume the medic-nin you were with was just a beginner. Beginners don't know how to completely stop the bleeding and pain."

"Heh, seems like that big head of yours has a purpose after all," Ino snickered.

Sakura glared. "Watch it, or I'll make sure no medic-nin can heal you."

The day was finally over and Itachi and Sakura were heading home. He had been fascinated watching her heal the patients. Sure, it got boring sometimes when you watch the same thing repeat itself over and over again, but it was the fact that she was able to control her chakra so well that intrigued him. He was surprised to see such a young person be capable of being such a good medic-nin. Becoming a medical ninja was very difficult.

Glancing at Sakura, he noticed she was tired and walking slightly slower than usual. He assumed it was probably because of her using too much chakra to heal the patients. He was noticed, while watching her healing, that she often used extra chakra to heal her patients a little more than necessary. He stopped and faced her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"You're tired. I can carry you," he said.

She blushed. "Eh, it's alright. It's just a bit further before we get home."

"No, I'll carry you," he approached her, crouching down to give her a piggy back ride.

When he stood in front of her was when she just noticed his height. Although he was only twelve and she was fourteen, he was just as tall as her if not almost an inch shorter. After a moment of contemplation Sakura got on his back, her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs to his sides. He carried her and the two headed home.

"Hey," Sakura began, "you carried Sasuke-kun like this once, right?"

"Yes."

Sakura smiled. "I remember seeing someone carry Sasuke like this when I was younger."

"You must have good memory."

"Uh…well…" Sakura finished her sentence with a nervous laughter.

The way he couldn't stop looking at her, the way he didn't want that guy to go on a date with Sakura, the way he wanted to spend time with Sakura, the way he volunteered to hang out with her at the hospital, and the way he offered to carry her…he knew that perhaps this wasn't just a _small_ crush. Perhaps it's actually _a_ crush.

* * *

**Senko:** Yay! I've finished chapter 4:D I feel so proud of myself! LoL. I know it's weird for this chapter to be in February, but oh well. The first and second chapter was in January and I just couldn't ignore February. Next chapter: March! And you know what event takes place in March? -hint hint-

Anyway, if you guys have any difficulty imagining young Itachi, go watch/read the episode where Naruto and Sasuke fight ;D

Oh, I almost forgot. Visit my deviantart! animesenko. deviantart. com ok? Check out my ItaSaku artwork! ;D oh, if you guys wanna add me on myspace, my myspace is myspace. com / animesenko


	5. March

**Senko:** The birthday scene in this chapter is REALLY similar to that of the birthday scene in "Worlds Apart" ok? Yeah. But, read this chapter carefully because this chapter will be a clue to what will happen in the next few chapters.

Also, sorry for the late review. As I said in "Worlds Apart," school was ending and I was overloaded with work. I know, I know, school ended on May 26 for me -.- for not updating asap after May 26, I admit I am guilty! T-T I was too lazy to type lol

**Response to Reviews **

**sakura-nin: **YES! You are correct! XD -gives you cookies- **Gina01: **Read to find out! ;D **ItaItaParadise: **Why, thank you! I try my best to keep characters in-character. Itachi's character is so hard to write. You don't know what's going through that genius head of his T-T **ninjaxbunny:** Thankiez for the awesome review! -gives cupcakes- **konohaGiRL: **Yes, she will have a mission. As you can see, I am going through the months. This chapter was for March and the next chapter will be or April, but there is no event in April. So, I am planning to make a mission in the next chapter :) **.H.P.I.A.L.:** That...is for me to know and you to find out! lol...actually, yes, of course! What kind of romance story would this be if that doesn't happen? Ehehe! **neon kun: **lol! Thankiez...but you know who's the best ItaSaku writers? Mitsukishiroi and leafygirl! They have the best ItaSaku fics:O **shi hime:** AWWW! Thanks so much! **jezebel x3:** Yes, Itachi is older than Sakura and he knows that. However, he also "knows" that the Hokage used a technique to make his body remain the same. Now that he's out of the coma, he will resume living and growing at that age.

Thanks to **Phantomica, Ivory Black aka Torri-Chiob..., blacksheep18, nadeshiko-uchiha, Blizzie-chan, lonewolf4ever, animemistress419, Riley Mayori, ByakuyaBaka, Clacifer the all Mighty, raven, Hao'sAnjul, SilverStorm106, Duhreah, EnV, monkeyn3rdZ, SweetAssassin, Sylvok, Heartless Ghost, reminiscemina1215, theoneandonlydarkpowderpuff, huffpuff, toxicxkisses, kai'sgirl510, itachi-sama a.k.a cathrun, xSakura.Blossomx, hel, fluffy101, nutte, Darkmoon44, sillymail, silentxkill, shari **and **deathly cold** for reviewing!

**Disclaimer:** Me no own. Duh.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Several weeks had passed by. Valentine's Day marked the beginning of the medic-nin Sakura and her unofficial assistant, Itachi. Since that day, Itachi would accompany Sakura in the hospital whenever he wasn't training or wasn't on a mission. Sakura had begun to give Itachi basic healing lessons and he would help her heal whenever possible.

"So, Kiba, just be careful and don't use that left arm of yours too much for a week, ok?" Sakura said.

"Yes, yes," Kiba answered.

Itachi withdrew his hands from Akamaru. He had been healing Akamaru's small wounds while Sakura healed Kiba.

Sakura glanced at Akamaru, "It's a good thing Akamaru wasn't hurt too badly."

Kiba patted Akamaru's head, "Yeah. Hey, is your shift almost over?"

"It's actually over right now. You were my last patient," she answered.

Suddenly someone barged into the room. It was another medic-nin and she was panting and wheezing, "S-Sakura-sama…it's an…an emergency! Ji-jiraiya-sama is on the brink of death! Please come!"

"Itachi, go home. I might be home late," she said quickly before dashing off.

* * *

"Itachi!" a voice called out. 

Itachi looked ahead to see a familiar blonde girl; it was Ino. He approached her, "Good evening, Ino."

"Good evening to you, too. Hey, where's Sakura? Is she going to be done soon?" she asked.

"There was an emergency and she sent me home. She said she'll be coming home late," he answered.

"What! Ah, damn it…" Ino cursed. "We were supposed to go out and celebrate her birthday."

"It's her birthday?" he asked. He didn't know it was her birthday.

"Yeah, didn't she tell you? Today's March 28, her birthday."

"No, she didn't."

"Oh well. Hey, give her this for me," Ino muttered, handing him a small gift in lavender wrapping paper before walking away.

Itachi slowly walked through the streets of Konoha. He had nothing to do now and it was just nine in the evening. Taking his time, he passed by a familiar shop and glanced at it. Something caught his eye and he stopped to take a better look.

_Flashback_

"_Itachi, Itachi!" she pointed to an object and turned her head to face him. _

_He walked up to her to see what she was so excited about._

"_Isn't it pretty?" she stared at the object. It was a simply yet beautiful two-piece necklace in the shape of a silver heart._

"_Hn," he didn't see what was so good about the necklace. Girls, what was with them and hearts and romance? His attention diverted to her again when he heard a small gasp from her._

_End Flashback_

He contemplated on what to do and after a moment of painful thinking, he entered the shop.

* * *

Sakura concentrated hard on Jiraiya, her hands placed over his abdomen as she released the greenish chakra into him. She was breathing heavily, hoping that he would be alright. What could have happened for Jiraiya to be injured so badly? Did someone attack him? Whatever it was, it must have been a terrifying and powerful force. 

"Sakura," a voice said.

Sakura turned to her side to see Tsunade smiling, "Tsunade-shishou…"

"It's alright. I'll over from here. Go home and rest, you've done enough," she gently smiled.

"Yes, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura muttered and left the room. She closed the door to the room and leaned against it in exhaustion. She glanced up at the clock that hung nearby; it was almost eleven thirty. She inwardly cursed to herself as she imagined Ino's anger at her for missing their plans for her birthday.

* * *

Itachi was reading one of Sakura's medical scrolls (which she allowed him to read and encouraged him to read) when Sakura returned. Looking at the doorway, he could see her slump figure dragging herself to bed. Glancing up at the clock quickly; he could tell it was five minutes before midnight. He got up from his position and head over to her room. The light in her room was still on. 

"Sakura," he spoke softly as he entered her room. She was lying on her bed.

Upon hearing his voice, Sakura got up and sat on her bed, "Oh, hey Itachi…"

He walked over to her and handed her the box that Ino had given him, "It's from Ino. She said to give it to you."

"Thank you," Sakura muttered, taking the box from him.

"Here," he said, reaching into his pocket and bringing out a necklace.

Sakura stared in awe. It was the same necklace she saw at that shop on Valentine's Day. He remembered. She smiled, restraining herself from crying at the sight of the necklace. She was at loss of words, "Itachi..."

"Ino told me it was your birthday," he said, handing her the necklace.

Sakura gazed at the beautiful necklace, "You didn't have to."

"It was my thanks for you allowing me to live with you," he stated.

She looked up at him and smiled and then stood up and quickly wrapped her arms around his waist. Then she let go, "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," he said.

He began to head back to his room. Did everyone hug another like this as a thank you for a gift? People should have more than one birthday a year then…Before he was able to leave the room he halted at the sound of her voice.

"Good night, Itachi-kun," she whispered.

He smiled to himself. He was moving up in her book.

* * *

"WHAT!" Sakura screeched at Naruto. 

The following day, Sakura and Itachi returned to the hospital. Much to Sakura's surprise, Naruto was there. Apparently, he was also hurt and was in the hospital the previous day but he had specifically requested that no one tell Sakura.

"S-Sorry, Sakura-chan!" Naruto pleaded.

"Why didn't you tell me!" tears were forming in Sakura's eyes.

Naruto frowned in guilt, "I'm sorry…I just didn't want you to know. I bet you were really worried Ero-sennin wasn't going to survive. If you knew I was hurt you'd be going through even more pain and probably couldn't concentrate on healing the pervert. I didn't need as much help as him."

"But still…" Sakura's voice faded away and was replaced with a sniffle as she tried to hold back her tears. "I…you…what happened?"

"I…" Naruto paused. "I don't know. We were training and then the next minute I woke up here. They wouldn't tell me what happened. They said we were lucky we were near Konoha and that ANBU found us."

"Where did you guys travel to?"

"We traveled around to Sand and Grass and were returning to Konoha for awhile," Naruto grinned at her. "I wanted to spend yesterday with you to celebrate your fifteenth birthday. I couldn't miss it; it's the biggest day of the year."

The tears fell from her eyes. She couldn't believe she used to hate this blonde boy so much, "Naruto…"

Silence dominated the room for a minute as Sakura tried to stop herself from crying.

"I should check up on Jiraiya-sama," Sakura said. "Naruto, take care, _OK_? Take very good care of yourself."

"Yes, Mother," Naruto teased.

Sakura glared at him before leaving the room, followed by Itachi. Once outside, she shut the door and leaned against it, taking a deep breath. Itachi could clearly sense her sadness and pain. After quickly gathering herself together, Sakura turned to Itachi and smiled.

"C'mon, let's go see the perverted Sannin."

He simply nodded. Sakura opened the door to find Tsunade, an unfamiliar man, and Kakashi hovered over the weak Jiraiya, "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were here. I'll come back later."

"No, stay," Tsunade insisted.

Sakura and Itachi entered the room and stood alongside Tsunade and Kakashi, forming a "U" around Jiraiya's bed.

"You were saying?" Kakashi asked.

"We were training and Naruto released the fourth tail," Jiraiya mumbled weakly. "If I had known it would be too much for me to handle, I wouldn't have angered him…"

"What did you do?" The unfamiliar man asked (Senko: He's that guy that's on the team with Naruto, Sai, and Sakura, but right now I don't think that Sakura knows who he is yet).

Jiraiya paused before answering, "I told him he couldn't help Sasuke."

There was a silence. Tsunade got up and headed for the door, followed by Kakashi and the unfamiliar man. She stopped and turned around before leaving, "Sakura, Jiraiya will be your last patient for the day."

Sakura nodded and Tsunade left.

* * *

"Itachi, can you hand me the bandages?" Sakura began to remove the old bandages around Jiraiya's arm. 

Itachi nodded and reached for the bandages and handed it to Sakura.

Jiraiya studied the two and a grin formed on his face. Sakura looked at him questioningly, wondering what it was that the old man was grinning about.

"I heard about what happened with Itachi," he said.

"Oh," was Sakura's reply.

The rest of the time proceeded in silence, with Sakura occasionally ordering Itachi around and informing Jiraiya on his injuries. The two stopped by Naruto's room once more before deciding to head home. And this was how it was between them, but little did they know even the smallest things like working together will result in the formation of a bond, and a bond is the last thing that two enemies would want.

* * *

**Senko:** I'm very sorry about this short chapter! But yeah, this chapter was dedicated to the month of March and I have nothing else for March. The next chapter will be for April and there is nothing in April so…there will be a mission! 

Check out my deviantart: animesenko. deviantart. com and my myspace: myspace. com / animesenko

Review!


	6. April

**Senko:** Hello! Sorry for the late update! Dang. O.O I got 52 reviews for this last chapter…that's the most reviews I've ever gotten for a single chapter. Thanks to all the reviewers for making it happen –cries tears of joy-

**.chie.x.sieka.:** Hmm…should I even make Itachi meet Sasuke:D I should huh? Lol. **Shi hime:** AWW! You are just too…too…UBERLY AWESOME! **huffpuff:** Of course Itachi-kun will have a bday! ;) **scorpiongrl:** Read to find out. **ninjaxbunny:** National Friendship Month! I must remember that for the next April and spread lots of love lol yessh you made me feel really super-uber-duper-mega-ultra-hyper special! You are sooo cool and awesome :D -gives you a 100 pound of cookies and cupcakes- **Mareno Mikato: **If you keep up with the manga, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you don't, then don't worry about it because it probably won't matter much in this story :P .**H.P.I.A.L.:** That is for me to know and you to find out :P **The Assassin of the Night:** Yes, I know it took long for me to update. I was going to update sooner but my updates got delayed for personal reasons. And then after that I was just plain lazy XD **Miss Bos-Say:** Aww! I'm flattered!

Thanks to **itachi-sama a.k.a cathrun, CraZy-AneH-GiRL, pilar-ayesha, SakuraSasuke29, sakura asakura, Iccena, Ali-Baba123, The Magical Whatever, sillymail, Heartless Ghost, kai'sgirl510, Ivory Black aka Torri-Chiob…, animemistress419, Natsu Yukili, ByakuyaBaka, Sakura5584, Kurenai Chinoumi, Psycho Demon-Witch, kagomefaves, BlackAngelBlood, Sylvok, Gina01, Hao'sAnjul, Earwen Telrunya, tirap, theoneandonlydarkpowederpuff, jezebel x3, Yamanaka Ino, Angel of Depression, loves-winged-dark-angel, If-This-Disturbes-You-Then…, Raeshi, itachiuchiaismine, Soelle, Selunchen123, Lady Evelynn, Halfbreed741, blubbleyum, Shinimegami-0f-Akatsuki, MiseriaX, BLUEEEyyy, fallen.lunar.,**and **Kunai-to-the-Heart** for reviewing!

**IMPORTANT:** While researching things about Itachi, I readsome info on him on Wikipedia. It turns out that he achieved the rank of ANBU squad captain at age 13, but in this story he is ANBU squad captain yet he is only 12. This was my mistake. The solution? We are all going to pretend that he became ANBU squad captain at 12 years old. Got it? Good ;D

**Disclaimer:** No own. Duh.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"NO! Absolutely not! I will not allow this AT ALL!" Naruto's screech filled the entire hospital and echoed throughout Konoha.

Sakura stared at the blonde. "And why do you not allow this? And since when were you in charge of what I can or cannot do?"

Naruto hesitated before answering. "Um…it's just that…that…"

"Thaaaaat?" Sakura drawled, impatiently awaiting Naruto's answer.

"I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU!" he screamed, jumping forward and locking her in a tight hug.

Sakura gently pushed him away, trying her best to maintain her temper. "Lose me? Lose _me_? You think that without you, Kakashi, and a certain someone I will die in a _mission_? You think I'm not _strong_ enough to protect myself?"

Naruto paused, at loss of words. Damn, girls were really complicating. And just when he thought he had the perfect answer, too. "No! That's not what I meant!"

"Then what did you mean?" Sakura retorted.

"I meant…" Naruto's sentence drifted into nothing as he tried to think of an answer. "It's just that…this mission seems really dangerous and risky. If Team 7 were still together, I don't think we'd finish this mission easily. It would make me feel a lot better about this if I was there too…so that if anything happens I could try to help you. And if I couldn't help you at least I'll know that I did what I could. If something happened to you, I won't be able to live wondering if you could have been saved if I was here."

Sakura inhaled deeply before bringing asoft smile on her face. She couldn't believe she had so hated this blonde just a few years ago. "I will have you know that I can protect myself. You have nothing to worry about. We're just delivering a letter to the Land of the Sea (1), nothing to worry about. Besides, I've got Itachi-kun with me."

"Itachi's going too?" Naruto glanced over at Itachi, who quietly leaned against the door listening to their conversation. "Well then I have nothing to worry about."

"_Nothing_ to worry about?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. "So just because you know there's a powerful prodigy going along, you have _nothing_ to worry about because I can be the usual damsel in distress and always be saved? So it only makes you feel better when you know someone strong will be there?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Naruto couldn't find a way to finish his sentence.

Girls really are complicating.

* * *

Sakura and Itachi walked side by side to their new team's meeting place. Tsunade had given them a temporary team for this mission. Yesterday, she had just found out that Naruto was also in the hospital and she was enraged. Later that day, Tsunade had offered her and Itachi a mission: deliver a letter to the Land of the Sea. She had found out that Naruto and Jiraiya would leave again on their journey today, so she decided to drop by the hospital and inform Naruto of hernew taskbefore she left. 

"Hey! Forehead girl! Over here!" a familiar voice sounded.

Sakura glared at Ino, who was waving at them. "Pig! You're on a mission with me?" Sakura growled when she and Itachi approached the group.

Itachi glanced at the group. There were only three other people aside from him and Sakura: the blonde girl, a guy with a dog, and a short-haired girl he remembered as Hinata.

"No, _you're_ on a mission with _me_," Ino answered. "Godaime-sama said that the letter we're delivering is to a guy in the Land of the Sea. It's a simple mission and we don't even need Itachi but Godaime-sama mentioned something about wanting to see if he can handle this level."

"Ah, I see," Sakura said.

* * *

"Hold on! Akamaru needs to pee again!" Kiba said, bringing the group's walking to a halt. 

Sakura rolled her eyes. "What are you feeding him, Kiba? And is he OK? We've only been traveling for four or so hours and Akamaru had had to pee for about five or six times already."

"He's just on a peeing spree," Kiba defended.

"You know what, since we're here and it's getting dark already let's just set up camp," Ino suggested. "Kiba and Itachi will get the woods and we girls will arrange the sleeping area."

The group split into two and the girls quickly began to set up tents. When they finished, the girls gathered around and sat forming a triangle.

"You know, Itachi's pretty civilized. It's so hard to imagine that an S-class criminal was this innocent," Ino admitted.

"W-well," Hinata began, "I believe that…that p-people are born innocent…a-and theylearn to beevil."

"Exactly, Hinata-chan," Sakura agreed. "I think Itachi-kun turned evil. Maybe something happened to make him kill his family."

"I just noticed, Forehead Girl, you called him with the –kun suffix," Ino pointed out.

Sakura looked at Ino questioningly. "What about it?"

"Well, he's the only person other than Sasuke-kun that you call with the –kun suffix. I mean, you don't call Naruto that but you've known Naruto for a longer time than you've known Itachi. Is there," Ino grinned, "something going on?"

A deep blush formed on Sakura's face. "W-What! You're sick, Ino! The guy's two years younger than me!"

"Oh, come on! He's not really two years younger than you. Let's face it - he's just as hot as Sasuke was when Sasuke was twelve. Heck I think he's hotter. He's so powerful too, much more powerful than Sasuke, right? He killed his clan! The power and the hotness," Ino said, "if I was twelve I would fall for him."

"If you were twelve, you pig," Sakura said. "Maybeif I was twelve again, I'd like him."

"Uhm…" Hinata began, "I…I a-agree with Ino-chan…are you s-sure there's nothing?"

"See?" Ino grinned proudly. "Even Hinata-chan agrees! You guys look really cute together."

"No we don't!" Sakura argued. "He's two years younger!"

"B-But he's just as tall as y-you," Hinata said, "I-if not an inch shorter…o-or something."

"You know, Forehead-girl, if he's going to stay this way the rest of his life, I think that you two really should get together," Ino suggested.

Sakura grunted. "You guys are so unbelievable."

"We're back!" Kiba called out, approaching the girls. Itachi followed behind him. The two set the wood down in the center of the camping area.

"OK…so who knows a fire technique?" Ino asked. "I was always put on missions with someone who knew one…so…"

There was a silence as all members realized that none knew a fire technique…all but Itachi.

"I know a fire technique," Itachi spoke up.

Ino beamed. "Awesome!"

Itachi quickly formed seals with his fingers. He brought a hand up to his mouth. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu."

* * *

The only sound was that of the faint crackling of the firewood. Sakura and Itachi leaned against a tree in silence. They had decided to have two people guard the area and they would switch every two hours. After two hours, Sakura and Itachi were to awaken two people of their choice to take their places. It had been approximately half an hour and the two said not a word. 

Sakura, deciding to start a conversation, let out a small laugh. "You know what's funny, Itachi-kun? Ino-pig and Hinata-chan thinks you and I would make a cute couple." He didn't reply but Sakura didn't mind. She knew that he had nothing to say about this topic. She decided to keep on talking. "I mean, that's just crazy, isn't it?"

"Is it?" he asked, slightly surprising Sakura.

"Well…" Sakura paused. It wasn't _that _crazy. She was becoming a hypocrite now. All her life she believed that age didn't matter and love is love, so what about now? "I-It's not that crazy…um! Well, it's just that you're two years younger. I don't like younger guys and I'm sure you want a girl your age and…and I have other reasons…"

"Ino told me you liked my brother," he said.

Sakura blinked. "She…did? When did that happen?"

_Flashback (chapter 3)_

_A normal day was what Sakura considered this to be. The regular training in the morning, afternoon in the hospital, and evening free time. Today she had worked an extra shift (like many other days) and it was evening now. An exhausted Sakura dragged herself home. She had made breakfast and left some for Itachi, but that was way back in the morning. She wondered if the older…er, younger? Uchiha ate yet. When she opened the door and entered her house, she was met with a shocking surprise. _

"_Sakura," Itachi greeted, looking up to acknowledge her while placing down a bowl on the kitchen table._

_Sakura gaped at the food set on the table. Every dish looked scrumptious and one hundred percent edible. He, a guy, a criminal, a person from a wealthy household who probably had maids working for him, made food that she herself could not generate at all._

"_You have lots of ramen here," he said, taking a seat. "But I wanted a proper meal. I hope you didn't mind, Sakura?"_

"_No, no," Sakura said fast. "I don't mind at all. And…w-wow…"_

"_Take a seat," he said. "It's edible. You've been gone since morning and that girl…the blonde one, I saw her earlier and she invited me to lunch. She said you probably wouldn't be home until evening, like always. I decided to make dinner for you."_

_Sakura took a seat, overjoyed with how caring this S-class criminal was. "That's so…sweet, Itachi! You didn't have to do this, though."_

"_It's the least I can do for you for allowing me to live with you."_

_End Flashback_

"Oh…I remember now…" Sakura said. "Agh, that pig. Well many other girls liked your brother, too. Heck, I think the entire female population of Konoha was in love with him."

Itachi remained in silence for a while. "In my opinion, you should see everyone as an individual."

Sakura laughed slightly. "Well don't worry about that! I won't hate you just because I liked your brother."

"Hn…"

Sakura scooted closer to Itachi. "You know, before Sasuke-kun left Konoha Team Seven were so close. I remember we all used to lie down on a clear grassy field at night during our missions and we'd look up at the stars."

He gave no reply, but she knew that it was just in his character to be that way. A part of her wondered if all Uchihas were this way. Knowing that if he was really annoyed with her talking he would stop her, she decided to continue speaking. "You would expect it to be me talking about how pretty the stars were, but one time when I was too tired Naruto played my role. He wouldn't stop talking about the stars' beauty that it got annoying. So I told him to shut up about the stars already. And you want to know what he said next?"

"Hn…"

Sakura gently leaned her head against Itachi's armand looked up at the brightly lit night sky, a smile hung on hercream-colored face. "He said…"

_Flashback_

"_You know if I had a star for every time this team made me feel like the happiest and luckiest future Hokage this world has ever seen, I'd have even more stars than the sky," he grinned, squinting his eyes like usual to make his signature fox-like appearance._

_Sasuke snorted. "What a mushy idiot."_

"_You know you feel the same way, Sassuukkeee," Naruto drawled._

"_Alright, everyone, get to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us," Kakashi said, his eyes never departing from the words in his book._

_End Flashback_

Sakura gave off a small laugh. "That Naruto…there's more to him than just some dumb idiot always screwing up. I agreed with Sasuke-kun that he was being a mushy idiot but I couldn't deny that if I too had a star for every time Team 7 made me feel like the happiest and luckiest kunoichi this world has ever seen, maybe I would have even more stars than the sky…"

Her words drifted into a silence and by the time Itachi noticed the talking had stopped, he saw that the pink-headed girl leaning against his side had fallen into a deep slumber.

His sights shifted upwards towards the sky.

If he had a star for every time he felt like the happiest and luckiest shinobi this world has ever seen, would he have more stars than the sky?

No.

He wouldn't.

He would never.

* * *

"RISE AND SHINE!" a voice screeched, causing Sakura to bolt up awake and Itachi to open his eyes. Standing before them was an annoyed Ino, her hands on her waist. She sighed deeply, gathering her breath together after screaming so loud. "About time you woke up." 

Sakura blinked a couple times to clear her vision. Then she remembered…she and Itachi were on guard duty that night and…she gasped. "Oh, my god! I'm so sorry! We fell asleep!"

Kiba grunted. "Damn right. And here I thought you two were supposed to be the most responsible from this group."

Sakura shifted her gaze down to the ground, unable to face the disappointment in her teammates' eyes. How could they have fallen asleep? What if they had gotten ambushed? She stopped her train of thoughts upon hearing Ino speak.

"It's alright. What matters is that nothing happened," Ino said, smiling. "Now let's hurry it up and head over to that town."

After a few more hours of traveling, the group finally reached their destination. The sun hung high in the sky, indicating that it was noon. The team of ninjas stepped out of the hotel they had reservations at and faced the bustling city. Ino cleared her throat to grab everyone's attention. "Okey dokey, everyone. Here's the plan. The man we are delivering a letter to is a guy named Katsuya and he works in this city. Due to some odd reason, the client wouldn't say where Katsuya works. So, as leader of this mission I say we divide into two groups and search for this man. If you find him, alert everyone so we can bring him the letter."

"Oh! Itachi-kun and Hinata-chan and I shall be in one group!" Sakura declared.

"Forehead-girl, I know you want to be with Itachi," Ino teased, receiving a glare from Sakura, "but we gotta admit you and Itachi together would be quite powerful and it'll just be Kiba and me in one group. No offense, Kiba. Anyway, we need equal strength, so you and I will be going together."

Sakura's glare intensified. "Eww…stuck with a pig."

Ino glowered in return. "Think about me. I'm stuck with a gigantic Forehead thing. And don't deny it - you're just dying to spend some quality girl time with me."

* * *

Sakura groaned. "Man, I'm tired…we searched a dozen places already." 

"Let's go and eat," Ino suggested.

"Hm? But aren't we supposed to be looking for that man?" Sakura let out a gasp. "You pig! Don't be so selfish and put your own needs before our mission."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Forehead-girl. We'll still be looking for the guy – we're just going to look for him in a restaurant while we eat."

Sakura smirked. "Such a sly pig."

Ino glared. "You know you want to eat too."

* * *

In a dark corner of a ramen restaurant, a lone figure sat shrouded in the shadows. Using his chopsticks to pick up a few strands of noodles, he sighed to himself in frustration. He had recently been hired to conduct a couple of experiments for Orochimaru. He had heard that Orochimaru used to have some forbidden researches that went on in the Land of the Sea, but Orochimaru abandoned the area. Now he was at the Land of the Sea and must work on the tasks Orochimaru had assigned him. 

The pay that Orochimaru offered him was good and that was perhaps the only reason he agreed to this. But Orochimaru was an impatient man and now he was fearful for his life. He hadn't had much progress in the human alteration assignment and the last time Orochimaru checked up on him, Orochimaru was definitely not happy. He had already wasted a couple of bodies and needed more.

But the Land of the Sea didn't have many suitable vessels for testing. He needed someone energetic, someone strong and powerful. It was difficult to search for a perfect person in such a place. Inwardly, he wished he was closer to a ninja village; ninjas would definitely be able to withstand the ordeal.

The bell that hung on the handle rang as the door opened, indicating visitors. The man glanced up and to his surprise it seems that luck was on his side today.

_Leaf headbands…

* * *

_

"Please take a seat," the waitress said, leading Sakura and Ino to a table. "Someone will be here shortly to take your order."

Sakura and Ino sat themselves at a small table for two, patiently waiting in silence. The silence was broken as Ino arose from her seat. "I'm going to the bathroom. Be back in a bit."

* * *

Sakura hummed a catchy tune to herself. She stopped when a bowl of ramen was placed in front of her. '_That's odd_,' Sakura said to herself. 

'_What is?_' a voice inside her head asked.

'_Ino-pig's been gone for a while now…my order has arrived and yet she's still in the bathroom_,' Sakura told herself. Glancing around, she couldn't spot Ino anywhere. Worried, she got up from her seat and headed for the bathroom.

"Ino-pig?" Sakura asked aloud, peeking inside the women's bathroom before entering. "Hey Pig, are you in here? Ino?" Sakura leaned down and looked around under the stall. No feet anywhere. So where was Ino?

Going back outside and studying the restaurant again, Sakura was now sure that Ino was not in thethere anywhere. She ran outside and looked all around.

No Ino in sight.

Her breathing grew deep and her heartbeat quickened. What if something had happened to Ino? She bit her bottom lip in frustration; she was right there in the restaurant, so how could she have not known that Ino was gone? Cursing her lack of awareness, she dashed off to find the other members of her team.

It hadn't taken her very long to locate her group, and for that she was thankful. After searching a couple of blocks, she spotted three familiar faces and quickly ran up to them, panting and wheezing.

"Woah, Sakura. Are you alright?" Kiba asked, upon seeing the out-of-breath kunoichi.

Sakura wasted only a few seconds pulling herself together before informing, "I can't find Ino-pig anywhere. Hinata-chan, can you use your Byakugan?"

Hinata gave a simple nod before bringing her hands together. "Byakugan!"

There was a silence among them as Hinata scanned miles in their vicinity. The chattering of the residents seemed almost nonexistent to them as they anxiously awaited the results.

Finally, the visible veins that had appeared around Hinata's eyes when she used the Byakugan faded and Hinata shook her head. "She's nowhere near us."

* * *

**Senko:** Dun, dun, dun! Ino has disappeared :O Tune into the next chapter of "The Other Uchiha" to see if Team ItaSaku will find Ino! LoL Anyway, I apologize for the late update. I will be starting school tomorrow (yes, my summer vacation ended T-T). Yep...hm.

1) If you watch the fillers, they talk about the Land of the Sea.


	7. May

**Senko: **Ah...sorry about the erm...late update o.O a, uhm, year late update lol

Chapters from this point on will NOT take a year to update lol because I have the entire story's outline written out :D

I will not be replying to any reviews in this chapter but only saying thanks to all of you xD because I'm in a rush to post this for you awesome readers!

Thanks to **Heartless Ghostie, sillymail, .My.Beautiful.Rescue., Hao'sAnjul, priya, demon-ice-mirror, Mint Bliss, GinaCat, Cnguyen456, animemistress419, Narutofan462, Neon Genesis, ninjaxbunny, sasukefaves, Trunkssilver, The Assassin of the Night, Gina01, Natsu Yukili, MistressBlossom, itachi-sama a.k.a cathrun, Hyuuga's Winged Guardian, loves-winged-dark-angel, sakura asakura, Jamiex3, Snowbired, Akae, Emriel, Sylvok, huffpuff, Hiako, shi hime, My.Happily.Ever.After, Soelle, Lady Evelyn, VixenofDeath809, ..., Hyousetsu, RaMeNLuVeRMoKoNa, Earwen Telrunya, Puppyeye1, ..., XxIIchiyo-chanIIxX, D.K.-Missy, Lite1232, Tickle Me Emo, Lina Mistress of Elements, o0Dreamer0o, cassandra, bubbleyum, RozenMaiden14, MayeUchiha, supreme-squirrel-huntress, Arbitraryster, poisontreat, shadow angel 101 hot-ninja-babe, Meer Campbell 01, InuKeifer, CosenAngel, uchihaaikosakura1821, clea everlasting, mahalo4ursupport, saskiko of soleanna, Crimson90, Gothic Saku-chan,** and **Kotone111** for reviewing!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

The only sound that could be heard was that of the water being pushed by the wooden oar that Itachi held. Sakura and Itachi were situated in a small boat, Sakura sitting at one corner and Itachi rowing at the other corner. Itachi remained calm but worry filled Sakura. Inwardly, she prayed for Ino's safety.

There was the main island which the group was on that Hinata had scanned with her Byakugan quickly. When it was confirmed that Ino was not on that island, they had to split up to search the other islands. Itachi and Sakura were paired together because Kiba desired the Byakugan's technique. So here they were, sailing to the island.

She hated when things like this would happen. She wondered how Ino could have been kidnapped and why she had not been able to sense it. She hated herself for it...since she didn't expect for anything like this to happen, she had let down her guard completely. If only...she was stronger.

She felt her eyes become teary but forced the tears back.

"It wasn't your fault," Itachi said, continuing to row.

She glanced at him before shifting her gaze to her side, a small smile forming on her face. At times like this, she wished Itachi had never killed his clan.

When they reached the shore of the island, they got off the small boat and surveyed their surroundings. There was an uncomfortable feeling about this island. It was dark and quiet, unlike the main island. After walking around for some time, they came across a cave and entered it. Sakura clung gently to Itachi's side as they walked through the dark corridors.

A scream echoed throughout the halls and Itachi and Sakura dashed towards the source of the voice. As they neared it, an open room came into view and they stood hidden around a corner as they listened in on the conversation.

"LET ME GO! Untie me now!" Ino's voice screeched.

"Just shut up and be a good little girl," a man's voice said.

"Dammit, I can't freaking fight! Shit," she cursed.

The man chuckled. "My drugs stop the chakra flow temporarily. Now with you as my test subject, I am bound to create something that will impress Orochimaru-sama!"

Ino growled. "Damn this."

Sakura took this time to make her grand entrance and Itachi followed behind her. When they entered the room, Ino was tied up in a corner of the room. The man abruptly turned to face them, shocked.

"Y-You! How did you get in!" He screamed in shock.

"You were stupid enough to leave rooms unlocked," Sakura growled. "We've come to get our friend."

He chuckled. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. I must use her to experiment and...and then when I impress Orochimaru-sama, I'll be spared!"

Sakura's eyes only narrowed at the man's sickening thought of experimenting on Ino in order to save his life, yet at the same time she felt pity for him having to fear for his life like that. She gritted her teeth before launching herself at him, gathering the chakra into her right fist. She successfully hit him, causing him to crash into a wall. He slowly struggled to get up and lunged at her in return.

Itachi, on the other hand, kept out of the fight. He had sense a dangerous yet somewhat familiar chakra just recently. He couldn't remember exactly who it belonged to. When he he sensed it again, he shifted his head a bit to look behind his shoulder to see a retreating shadow.

The immense chakra made him curious and he couldn't simply leave, so he left Sakura to deal with the villain before stalking off after the unknown shadow. When he approached the corner and turned, the shadow was nowhere. This made him dash across the hallway attempting to find that shadow.

He didn't have to look long, for when he took a left turn he saw two figures wrapped in cloaks. The figures turned around.

"Well, well. If it isn't Uchiha, Itachi. Kisame sure must be lonely with you gone," said the first figure, lifting his head so the light entered his face. The man had a very pale face, much resembling that of a snake and it made Itachi feel uncomfortable. The other person, though, seemed more human and wore glasses.

"How do you know me?" Itachi asked.

There was a brief silence and the glasses man whispered something into the snake man's ear. The snake man chuckled. "Good thing you invented that jutsu to scan bodies, Kabuto."

Kabuto smirked. "I figured it would come in handy someday, Orochimaru-sama."

So they were Kabuto and Orochimaru.

Orochimaru focused his gaze on Itachi. "Sasuke-kun will be so disappointed to hear about this."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Sasuke...? Where is he?"

Orochimaru only let out an evil chuckle before he and Kabuto disappeared in a puff, leaving Itachi to ponder why and how Orochimaru would know Sasuke. His thoughts were quickly interrupted.

"Itachi-kun?" Sakura called out, approaching him and followed by Ino. "Why did you run off here?"

Itachi turned to her and wondered for a second if he should tell her about Orochimaru. "It's nothing, I just thought I saw something."

"Oh, okay," Sakura smiled. "Well, I defeated that guy so let's head out!"

* * *

"Oh, thank you so much for delivering this letter!" A middle-aged man exclaimed in joy as he took the letter from Ino. "I hope this mission didn't cause you too much trouble?"

Ino smiled. "Oh, no. Not at all! We'll be heading back now."

The man bid them farewell and Ino, Sakura, Itachi, Kiba, and Hinata began their journey back to Konoha. The entire time, Orochimaru's words plagued Itachi's mind and he wondered where Sasuke would be.

* * *

A few knocks against the door to his room caught Itachi's attention. "Come in."

He could hear the door open and he knew instantly who was at his door.

"I have dinner prepared. Are you too busy with your studies?" Sakura asked.

Itachi gathered the books and scrolls together. "I'll be there in a bit."

"Alright then," Sakura said before leaving Itachi's room and heading to begin her dinner.

It had been about a week since Itachi had encountered Orochimaru. Itachi had of course resumed his usual life, following Sakura around at the hospital and studying scrolls. However, during the times when Sakura was away at the hospital, he knew where the documents containing information about criminals and Leaf shinobis lied and he would sneak a peek at them.

He had discovered that Orochimaru was a former Leaf shinobi and soon joined with some evil organization named Akatsuki. Of course, Orochimaru eventually left the organization and where he currently resides is unknown.

So now as he continued on with his studying, he often pondered about what to do. Sure he liked the life of staying by Sakura. He had come to admit to himself that she was strong and he held a good amount of admiration and respect for her. Yet at the same time, he felt a certain feeling of obligation to leave the Leaf in order to find Sasuke.

Should his first step be to find Akatsuki?

He decided to leave this pondering for later. Perhaps time would aid him in making a decision.

* * *

"But shishouuuu," Sakura called out to Tsunade, who stood across from her examining the patient in between them. Itachi stood in silence near the door.

Tsunade sighed. "You've been working real hard lately and I think you need a break."

"I'm standing and I can heal, so I'm just perfect," Sakura chirped.

"It's just for today, Sakura," Tsunade said, turning around to exit the room.

Sakura frowned childlessly once Tsunade. It was true that she's been working extra shifts at the hospital lately without any complaint. Sakura believed, though, that it was training and didn't mind it.

"Let's go, Itachi-kun," she sighed, leaving the room.

Sakura and Itachi wandered around the streets of Konoha. Sakura wondered what to do. It was the afternoon and it was a routine for her to be at the hospital during this time, except for when she took a lunch break. It was either the hospital or a mission.

From the corner of her eye she peered over at the young Uchiha, who happened to be lost in his own thoughts.

She had to admit that he held a striking resemblance to Sasuke. However, she also had to admit...that he was a lot better looking too. She had always admired Sasuke's good looks, but Itachi was a completely different story.

She noticed Itachi had perfect eyelashes that gave him a slight hint of femininity. Those eyelashes combined with that deep shade of onyx eyes were a magnificent combination. He had long, silky bangs that hung in front of his eyes and they would shimmer when hit with the sunlight. His overall look was just simply...how should she put it...

beautiful.

"Sakura?"

She blinked, realizing she had stopped in her tracks and had been staring at him for a while. A deep blush crept on her face in embarrassment and she quickly turned away. "Ah, s-sorry. Uhm, what to do...what to do..."

They continued to walk in silence for a while. Sakura didn't mind, though, since she had expected this from Itachi. Then an idea occurred to her. She turned to Itachi and beamed. "Hey! Let's train!"

It wasn't long before they reached an open field suitable for a training ground. Sakura was excited. She hadn't fought Itachi before and she figured perhaps she should use this time to see how he fights. His seventeen-year-old self might fight differently, of course, but still it was better than nothing.

Itachi didn't know what was with the girl. From his memories, he remembered that many people feared him and didn't like to spar with him. The reason being was that they knew they stood no chance against him.

But here he was, standing with an excited pink-haired kunoichi who could obviously never be able to defeat him. Yet she held a smile on her face and determination radiated from her emerald orbs.

That was one thing he especially liked about her. She held no fear for him and didn't desire to defeat him.

She simply...

"Get ready, Itachi-kun!" she got into her fighting stance while he simply remained alert.

...wanted...

She lunged at him, gathering the chakra into her fist. Her attack of course missed him and she ended up created a hole in the ground. He had leapt back to avoid her attack and she quickly got back up and launched herself at him again, throwing punches and kicks at him.

...to...

Although it was clear she wouldn't be able to defeat him, he had to acknowledge the fact that he would indeed lose against her if he didn't keep his guard up; her amazing chakra control could prove to be troublesome for him if he didn't stay alert.

...be...

He had regretted not paying attention to her just then, for her punch barely missed him and only scratched him a bit on the arm. Yet he could feel the pain from it.

...with...

Sakura tripped on a rock and fell forwards, falling on top of him. Using her elbows, she pushed herself up from the ground, got into a sitting position in front of him and groaned. "Ahh...sorry, Itachi-kun. Stupid rock. Oh, did I hit you earlier? Let me heal it."

Itachi squinted his eyes, realizing he had fallen down because she tripped. There was something wrong, something irritating his eyes. He could feel her gather the chakra into her hand and begin to heal the bruise she caused on his arm. "Sakura..."

"Yes?" her innocent voice said.

...him...

He lifted his head to look up at her and she gasped as she stared into his crimson eyes, different red eyes than sharingan. Then she fell unconscious.

Mangekyou Sharingan.

* * *

"She should be fine with some rest," Tsunade informed the Uchiha boy, pulling the hospital blanket to cover Sakura.

Itachi remained silent for a while, staring at Sakura's sleeping form. "Thank you...Hokage-sama."

There was a moment of silence in the room before Tsunade decided she should ask. "So...how did this happen? Although Sakura may not be the strongest shinobi out there, she is still my apprentice and I know she shouldn't have gotten hurt this badly from anyone in the village. Even during a sparring session."

Itachi gave no reply to her question of how it happened and Tsunade continued on. "She has no physical wounds...but her mind is greatly weakened and harmed. The only possible answer would be..."

"Me," he answered. "It wasn't intentional."

"Oh?" Tsunade glanced over at him. "Enlighten me on your training."

"I..." he paused. "She was healing my arm and my eyes started to irritating. I hadn't even activated Sharingan. I looked at her..."

"Mangekyou Sharingan?" Tsunade finished for him.

The two stood above Sakura's hospital bed for a moment and then Tsunade turned to leave. Her hand had barely laid on the doorknob when Itachi spoke to again.

"But the only way to acquire it would be to kill my best friend...which I do not recall doing."

She stopped for a moment before turning the doorknob and stepping outside.

It wasn't long...it wouldn't be long...

...until the potion wears off.

* * *

**Senko:** And that is it for chapter 7! Tuned in to chapter 8, coming soon:D Reviews are much appreciated by Senko xD 


	8. June

**Senko: **Heyyaz, everyone! Sorry it took long to update, I've been lazy and busy with school xD it's 12:11 am right now -.-; I have to go sleep. Longest chapter ever! This chapter (including all notes and thanks and stuff) has over 6000 words x.X

Thanks to **Cookies321,** **Skullcandy, o.O Kumiko O.o, Hikaru Adams, WinglessFallenAngel, sillymail, Hyousetsu, Gothic Saku-chan, ninjaxbunny **(I LUFF YOOH xD cuz you're awesome)**, UchihaShizukoAkane, bubbleyum, deviltwit, mahalo4ursupport, Naru'Kuru, CosenAngel, HeartlessGhostie, itachi-sama a.k.a cathrun, 43InuAsha, Crimson90, sakura asakura, sakuragirl13579, Hatake Kai, fujifangirl101, Inukeifer LaberaiTashio, cherryblossom279,** and **Soelle** for reviewing!

**Disclaimer: **Me no own. Duh.

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**Chapter 8**

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A month had passed since Sakura's unfortunate encounter with the Mangekyou Sharingan. When she had woke up at the hospital and questioned what had happened, Itachi straightforwardly stated what had happened. Of course, she didn't know about how to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan since Itachi hadn't mention it. Therefore, she had left everything as it was and decided to just move on.

So here she was, eating her ramen at Ichiraku. She sat to the left while Itachi was to her right. To Itachi's right was Ino and to Ino's right was Shikamaru.

Ino had seen the two walking down the streets of Konoha around noon, assumed correctly that Sakura was on her lunch break, and invited them to lunch with her and Shikamaru.

Sakura quietly ate her food as Ino's voice rang throughout the stand. Ino was busy talking to Shikamaru and she couldn't help but feel just a slight, small, _very_ small, pang of jealousy in her heart. No, it wasn't that she was jealous Ino was talking to Shikamaru. In fact, she was simply jealous that Ino was talking.

Sakura, on the other hand, had a scroll open in front of her and she would read it as Ino talked. It wasn't something very secretive, though, just an innocent scroll teaching about the human body.

She glanced over to Itachi from the corner of her eyes. Itachi's head tilted to his left, supported by the palm of his hand. His right hand held the chopsticks in between his fingers, playing with the ramen. His onyx eyes stared down at the food.

He was silent, and that was what bothered her. She knew that he was like Sasuke; they simply weren't the type to talk. Yet sitting there in silence while Ino was enjoying herself, Sakura wished she could be able to talk with Itachi and laugh. But she knew he wasn't the kind to do that...she sighed.

She took another peek at him.

Her same thoughts about him from when she had sparred with him ran through her mind yet again. She couldn't help but admire his beauty. Although he was just sitting there, messing with his food in boredom, his mere appearance was still so appealing. The way his head gently rested against the palm of his hand, the way his bangs shifted slightly ever so perfectly to the right, the way his dark eyes still held that mesmerizing stare.

Since he was only twelve-years-old, the only word that came to her mind when she sought to describe him was 'cute.' However, as she stared at him, that child image of him began to fade and became replaced with his old seventeen-year-old self.

A small part of her wondered how much better it would be if his true self was there. He would be so much more grown up and handsome with a more mature body structure.

"Sakura?"

She blinked and realized she had been staring at him dreamily for a while.

"Are you okay?" he asked. His eyes stared straight at her, his head lifted just a bit from his hand and shifted to her direction to face her.

"Uh, n-no," Sakura replied, turning to her left as to shield away her blush.

_'That was so embarrassing!'_ her inner self yelled. _'Imagine if he was his seventeen-year-old self! Oh, my gawd! He might kill us for staring at him!'_

_'...shut up!' _she screamed back to herself.

When they had finished, they headed out of Ichiraku and the first sight that seemed to catch their attention was a loving couple walking in front of them. However, the man seemed to be around his early forties while his arm was wrapped around a very young girl, perhaps only twenty or not even twenty yet. Both Ino and Sakura's gazes followed them as they walked off.

"Wow," Ino commented. "I don't see much of that around. It's kind of odd to see it."

"Hm," Sakura responded. "Well, age shouldn't matter, right?"

"I know, I know," Ino said. "Well, you two have fun since Shikamaru and I have things to do."

"Alright, bye Ino-pig. Bye Shikamaru," Sakura gave the two a smile before heading off. Itachi simply gave them a nod.

* * *

"Don't you think they just look so cute together?" Ino squealed, tugging on Shikamaru's arm as she turned her head back slightly to see the backs of Sakura and Itachi walking away from them. 

Shikamaru sighed. "You really shouldn't joke about things like this."

Ino frowned childlessly. "I wasn't joking! I really meant it."

"That really doesn't make this situation any better."

Ino gave no reply and just stayed silent for a moment. "But...well...you know, this is the first time Sakura's been so close to any guy after Sasuke left. I'm excited for her."

Shikamaru closed his eyes, lifted his head up and opened his eyes again to look at the clouds. "You should be more fearful for her than excited. It is wrong in every single way if they even begin to develop emotions. Even if they look cute now, I bet it wouldn't look so cute if Sasuke ever saw them together."

"Y-yeah..." Ino whispered, staring down at the ground.

* * *

"Okay!" an excited Sakura chirped, her hands clasping together. Her small bag of medical papers and scrolls dropped down to her side. "This time I shall defeat you!" 

The young Uchiha simply closed his eyes for a moment, his lips forming a smirk at how amusing the pink-haired kunoichi sounded. In all of their training sessions, she had never beat him. Yet at the beginning of each one she would say that same sentence. "We'll see, Sakura."

Sakura quickly gathered the chakra into her fist. It seemed that this was her opening technique during each spar with Itachi. After the first few times they had fought, Sakura had come to conclude that Itachi almost never initiates the first move. He was the type to defend until she felt irritated at not being able to harm him. It was then that he would always make a move to surprise her.

The two fought back and forth in taijutsu with Itachi mostly dodging. Although Itachi was skilled in all three areas of jutsus, he stuck to taijutsu whenever he sparred with Sakura. The reason being was because he knew she had no bloodline abilities or special ninjustsus. He admired the fact that she had only her healing abilities, chakra control and intelligence to accompany her in battle and yet she would still prove to be a formidable opponent.

Itachi's focus on Sakura's attacks divided as he recalled a similar training session just a month ago.

Things had been to odd to him lately. First there was the encounter with Orochimaru, and then there was the Mangekyou Sharingan. Orochimaru's words still rang clearly in his head and ever since then, Itachi hadn't forgotten any word of his conversation with the Legendary Sannin member.

"_Well, well. If it isn't Uchiha, Itachi. Kisame sure must be lonely with you gone."_

Who was this Kisame person? That name sounded so familiar to him and he felt as thought he'd not only heard that name before, but that he'd said it before as well.

"_Good thing you invented that jutsu to scan bodies, Kabuto." _

Who's body did this Kabuto person scan? It must have been him since he was the only other person there with the two mysterious figures in that hallway. Then the next question he had was why they would be scanning his body. Could it be...that this Orochimaru person knew about the Mangekyou Sharingan beforehand and had Kabuto scan his eyes? Yes, that must be it!

"_Sasuke-kun will be so disappointed to hear about this." _

He knew that his younger brother was now with that person and he had been wondering what he would do about this. He wanted to go to Sasuke, but he couldn't simply walk out of Konohagakure to search for Sasuke. He would be deemed a missing-nin and...he knew that _she_, the person he was sparring with at the moment, wouldn't like it.

Then the next thing to bother him was the Mangekyou Sharingan. He had discovered that those powerful eyes could be obtained by taking the life of one's best friend. He hadn't killed Shisui, so why was it that he had those eyes? He couldn't just say he was fortunate enough to magically gain them. No, he knew that there would be no way to do that. Then what was it?

Could it be? Perhaps he could gain the Mangekyou Sharingan even if his best friend was murdered by someone else? Yes, that must be it also!

Somehow, things were making more sense to him now. He quickly went over everything in his head while continuing to evade Sakura's attacks. He knew he now had in his possession the Mangekyou Sharingan, and he was sure that his younger brother wouldn't be so heartless as to ever kill a best friend. Therefore, he must find Sasuke, help Sasuke take revenge and then they would come back to Konohagakure and live together again.

His first step would be to train his new eyes and once he mastered them, he would seek out Orochimaru and find Sasuke. He was sure the Hokage should agree when he decide to pursue the ex-Akatsuki member and-

"Ah!"

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt and he quickly fell backwards, his back roughly colliding against the dirty ground. Gently, he used the support of his elbows to slightly lift him off the ground. Seeing Sakura's medical papers and scrolls sprawled over the ground beneath his feet, he assumed she must have tripped over it and dragged him down. How clumsy and so...not shinobi material.

"Owwies..." Sakura groaned, trying to lift herself up.

She let out a small gasp when she realized that her hands was placed against Itachi's chest and they gently clutched his shirt. She slowly raised her head to meet his nonchalant expression.

Green eyes locked with dark ones.

Itachi's onyx orbs bore into Sakura's glimmering emerald ones. Her bubblegum hair shimmered in the sun and her eyes stared innocently into his. Her mouth was slightly parted in surprise, her fingers unconsciously grabbing his shirt in her palms and her petite body laid between his legs. He couldn't help but inwardly smile to himself at their position and at how she was unknowingly continually gazing at him.

Somehow, even though he knew he was younger than her he felt as though he was older than her. For some reason, he felt he'd gone through more and had more experience than her. He found it so ironic that she seemed so young to him. If only he was older than her, then...

...then maybe she would like him.

He would master the Mangekyou Sharingan. He would go after Orochimaru. He would find Sasuke. He would help Sasuke take revenge. Then they would return to the Leaf and live at the Uchiha estate. Then it would be perfect if...if he could spend the rest of his life finally being a true older brother to Sasuke and...

He watched as Sakura blinked, her eyelids hiding her jade eyes for a second before revealing them to him again.

...and have her like him. She was generous, intelligent and powerful, perfectly fit to help him restore the clan. But more than that, he felt a foreign feeling rise in him whenever he was with her. Perhaps he actually liked her? Perhaps.

But he knew that couldn't happen. He remembered clearly her words she said that one February day. _"__Like I said, I won't go on a date with someone I don't like. Also, he's younger than me; I don't date guys who are younger than me."_

Then again she had mentioned after lunch that age shouldn't matter, right?

"Ah, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" Sakura ranted, having noticed that had been lying on top of him and staring at him for perhaps a few eternities now. She blushed in embarrassment and quickly placed her hands around the ground beginning to lift herself up.

She let out a gasp when she felt his hands gently slam against her back, pushing her against him. Her face found itself buried in his chest. Her blushed deepened as she realized what he'd done. She'd never been so close to a guy in this way. "Uh, er...uh, I-Itachi-kun? Uh..."

He stared ahead at nothing. "Sakura...do you really not date guys younger than you?"

"Huh? Uhm...er, I..." she didn't know what to say.

A voice inside of her head began to scream. _'OMG OMG OMG! IS HE SAYING WHAT I THINK HE'S SAYING?!'_

_'NO! He can't be! Stop thinking too much, you're going to corrupt me!' _Sakura inwardly yelled back.

_'Then why else would he say it?!'_

_'Hello?! Have you forgotten he killed his whole clan, practically lives to torment Sasuke-kun and kill others, is an S-class criminal, is a missing-nin and an Akatsuki member?! There's no way he would be saying this because he likes me!'_

"Sakura?"

"Huh? Oh, uhm...I..." she was at loss of words again.

"You did say you don't date younger boys. Yet..." he looked down to meet her gaze, "at the same time you say age shouldn't matter."

A blush quickly crept on her face and she looked away to her side to avoid having him see her like that. "Uhm, I, well...why do you care anyway?"

"Curiosity," he said indifferently. "If I was the same age as you, do you think you would have ever developed any sort of feelings more than friendship for me?"

Sakura was in disbelief that she was actually in a conversation with the Uchiha boy about a topic like this. "No, I mean..."

"Mean what?"

Sakura sighed. "It's not that I would never develop that sort of feeling for you because of your age. It's...it's something else." She knew she was forbidden to have any sort of emotion of that kind for him.

"Then what is it?"

"It's...well...I don't know to say it."

"Is it because you love Sasuke?"

She blinked. Was that how he also thought of her? Everyone had said she still loved Sasuke and that that was the reason why she wouldn't date other guys. She herself didn't know what it was. "No, it's something other than that. I..." she paused. "It's because I can't love you in that way."

"Why is that?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

She felt his grip on her back slightly tighten and push her against his chest even closer. "I just can't. Maybe...maybe if life was different I would. And why would you bring up such a topic?" She let out a small laughter to lighten up the atmosphere. "Could it be?" She gasped jokingly. "That you like me?"

Itachi gently pushed her off of him and got up on his feet, trotting off. "It was curiosity."

Sakura slowly rose to stand, her eyes watching the Uchiha depart farther and her mind questioning if he was truthful in saying it was all out of curiosity.

* * *

Orochimaru's footsteps echoed loudly throughout the dark corridors. Kabuto followed behind him as always as the two walked along the lone hallways of his hideout. It had been a while since he had encountered the older-younger Uchiha; he didn't know whether to address Itachi as the older or younger one at this point. 

At first, he had been so entertained with the events; he anticipated heading back to his hideout and telling Sasuke all about it. Well, on his journey back he and Kabuto had been discussing the topic and he had come to realize that letting Sasuke know about the situation so soon, although it would amuse him so very much, might end up _not_ in his favor.

He knew that Sasuke was a talented young boy and Sasuke had grown even stronger with his tutelage. However, as talented Sasuke was, there was no denying that Itachi is a genius and there is a huge difference between simply possessing talent and being an actual mastermind. Therefore, he waited for the correct moment to occur. When that moment would appear, he did not know.

The two came to a stop in front of a room with its door open. The small amount of light that lit the halls entered the room just enough to reveal a dark figure, his Uchiha symbol visible on the back collar of his shirt.

Having sensed the Sannin member and Sound nin, Sasuke rose from his bed to sit. His faced remained hidden in the shadows, his Sharingan gleaming. "Finally, Orochimaru. You haven't trained me in a week."

Orochimaru stepped into the dim room, chuckling. "Now, now, Sasuke-kun, remember that I do have a life and things to do other than train you."

Sasuke 'tch-ed.' "Well, I'm bored and pissed that I'm not getting stronger. Or..."

The snake-like man blinked at the Uchiha, wondering what he would say. "Or?"

Sasuke smirked. "Or is it that you've got nothing else to teach me and I have no more use for you?"

Orochimaru's gold eyes narrowed at the truth of that statement. He knew Sasuke had grown tremendously and maybe, just maybe, Sasuke might even be able to tie with him in a battle. Of course, he wouldn't ever tell this to Sasuke. He knew once he was useless to Sasuke, Sasuke would leave and he'd have great difficulties trying to obtain Sasuke again. For now, he needed Sasuke.

He let out disturbing chuckle. "Such disrespect. And here, I was hoping to tell you some things I've discovered about that older brother of yours."

He immediately gained the full attention of the chidori user. "What is it?"

"Hm? Oh, nevermind. For now, I think we should just go on with our training session. After all, you made such a big fuss out of it."

Sasuke grunted in frustration and slid off the bed to stand and face Orochimaru. "Dammit! Tell me, Orochimaru!"

"Oh? Of course, of course. But what was that you said about me being of no more use to you?"

"Alright, alright, whatever. I take it back, now just tell me."

Orochimaru laughed, all too amused with the situation. He turned to look at Kabuto. "Tell him, Kabuto."

Kabuto nodded. "It appears that Itachi is now a twelve-year-old residing at Konohagakure and has resumed his position as a Leaf shinobi. From a body scanning jutsu that I created, I've come to conclude that someone has drugged him with some sort of high level and powerful potion that has turned him back into a child. If you would like to avenge your family, now would be the perfect time to do so."

There was a silence as Sasuke reviewed what Kabuto had just said. "That can't be true."

"Believe what you will, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru snickered, exiting the room.

Sasuke remained him his position, standing in the middle of the room and now staring at nothing on the ground. He couldn't believe such a thing would happen. Itachi? _The_ Itachi? He hated his brother but he still had to admit that his brother was very strong.

His footsteps started off slowly as he walked out of his room but as soon as he was outside he broke out into a dash. As he rounded a corner, he stopped abruptly seeing Orochimaru and Kabuto there.

"I knew you could distinguish between a truth and a lie," Orochimaru said.

"I'm going to _confirm_ if it is true. There is no point in killing Itachi in his pathetic state like this."

"Very well, but I can't simply let you roam around freely like that. Kabuto, see to it that Sasuke-kun has company strong enough to drag him back in case he should decide to run off."

* * *

"_If I was the same age as you, do you think you would have ever developed any sort of feelings more than friendship for me?"_

Sakura's eyes peered through the glass window and out onto the yard below where a few children were playing tag. She was at the ninja academy, having been invited to teach the students about the job of medic-nins and how to become a medic-nin. After all, there was a shortage in medic-nins.

It had been a week since her training session with Itachi in which his words left confusion within her. Ever since then, they hadn't sparred because he had been busy with missions and she was teaching at the academy. When he had free time, he would accompany her to the academy or the hospital. One thing that irked her was how he was living as though the conversation never occurred. He didn't seem at all to be bothered and this led her to be frustrated with herself because she felt she was giving this too much thought.

She sighed. Yes, that must be it. She was thinking too much and he had said he was only curious.

Watching the children play so happily, she wished that the two Uchiha boys she knew would have had that sort of past, joyful and peaceful.

"_I just can't. Maybe...maybe if life was different I would." _Both his line from before and her line from now continually rang in her head no matter how hard she tried to shove away the thoughts.

Why had she said that?

She didn't know what had possessed her to say such a thing and when she had realized she said that, she felt so disgusted with herself. How could she say such a thing?

Itachi was a traitor, a missing-nin, an Akatsuki member...he had caused so much pain to Sasuke.

She hated him for it. Even if he was twelve years old right now, even if he had no memories of having massacred his clan, even if he wanted to help Sasuke, even if he was innocent right now...the truth was something she couldn't forget.

"Sakura?"

Sakura's gaze shifted from the window to look at the door of the classroom. Iruka stood there. "Yes, Iruka-sensei?"

"Oh, I was just surprised to see you here. Class has been over for a while now, so I didn't expect to see you here," he said. "And don't call me sensei, we're the same rank now."

Sakura smiled, walking away from the window and making her way to the door to leave. "I was just about to leave, and it doesn't matter what rank we are. To me, you'll always be a sensei."

Sakura strolled through the streets of Konoha, making her way back home. Itachi was on another mission, and since it was only nearing sunset she decided to take the long way home and walk slowly. She passed by many shops, often stopping to see what was being sold. She didn't normally take time off to go shopping since she was usually busy.

She stopped at the park, watching as parents were picking up their children. A sad smile graced her face as she remembered her own past and how she was always picked on. It seemed to her as though the entire Team Seven had a harsh past, almost as if all the members of Team Seven were destined to meet and be a team.

Her eyes shifted to the trees that surrounded the park and she knew that going beyond those trees would lead her to a training ground. There were many training grounds scattered throughout Konoha. She didn't know what it was, but her feet controlled her steps and she soon found herself strolling through the trees. It was if an unknown force pulled her there.

When the path of trees ceased, she appeared at on open field. As her eyes surveyed the area, memories returned to her and she remembered that it was on this very field that she and Ino would sit making flower arrangements as an assignment for class when they were young. Those were the sad days that hadn't yet gotten worse with time.

"Sakura?"

Sakura whirled around to see Itachi's figure leaning against a tree. She smiled. "I didn't expect to see you here. When did you get back?"

"Just now," his eyes scanned the vicinity.

She walked up to him, her eyes making note of the small amount of dirt on his hand and a scratch on his face. It was rare to see him with any injuries. As she approached him and stood before him, she noted that he used to be the same height as her just a couple weeks ago but was now taller. Odd. Well, perhaps he was undergoing some sort of rapid growth spurt. Perhaps.

"You're growing so fast, Itachi-kun," she tugged on his shirt to motion for him to sit down. "Let me heal you. I can't believe you're hurt this time. Tough opponent?"

"I suppose. I would like it if the clients knew at least the basics of protecting themselves instead of relying on the ninjas to fight and defend at the same time," he stated, sitting down beside her.

Sakura let the green chakra flow from herself into him and in a short matter of time his cut was healed. "Yeah."

The two sat in silence, watching the gentle breeze swayed the grass this way and that. The sun had begun to set now and the sky was washed with bright yellow-orange-red shades. Sakura smiled at the scene. "You know, Ino-pig and I used to make flower arrangements here."

Itachi didn't say anything for a moment and Sakura was shocked when he replied. "Sasuke and I used to train nearby."

"Sasuke is so lucky to have you as a brother. I can see how he graduated with top scores now," she said, but right after saying it she immediately regretted it as she remembered that Itachi had slaughtered his clan and thus caused Sasuke to train even harder in order to avenge the clan.

"Not really," Itachi said, continuing to shock Sakura. She had expected silence or 'hn' like how Sasuke always did. "I only trained with him a few times, most of the times he watched."

Sakura leaned back against the tree. "Don't you think it would great if Sasuke were still here? Then maybe you could add in to the team. Then every morning we can go wait for Kakashi-sensei and then he'd be late like always. Oh! And then Naruto and I would scream at him and I assume you and Sasuke would probably sit somewhere or lean against something, annoyed with him being late. And then we can go on missions and you and Sasuke would probably be beating up all the bad guys and Naruto would be so angry that you two always take the spotlight! Hmm..."

Itachi watched her, wondering what else she would say. Her thoughts were amusing.

"And then with both you _and_ Sasuke-kun, I bet Team Seven must be so feared. We'd be having two super strong shinobis on our team! And both from the Uchiha clan as well. If it was only you, Sasuke-kun, and Kakashi-sensei, you guys can be, like, a super Sharingan team! You'd probably become the most powerful and feared group in Konoha!"

Sakura's gentle laughter filled the atmosphere as she let her imagination run wild. She knew such a thing would never happen, but it never hurts to imagine.

"Is that how you view me?"

Sakura glanced at him, her eyes questioning him. "What do you mean?"

Itachi's onyx eyes stared far into the horizon at the setting sun. There was a long period of nothing except the rustling of the trees due to the wind's breeze. "They would make me train from dawn until dusk and repeat the steps everyday."

Sakura bit her lower bit in regret of ever saying anything. It wasn't every day when anyone would be able to peek in to the thoughts and feelings of the Uchiha prodigy. Should she apologize? Stop the conversation? Laugh? Cry? Without knowing what to do, she kept silent.

"And the eyes of everyone else held only envy, hatred, or fear. I dislike the fact the entire clan was killed but..."

He paused.

"But there is something inside me that is glad they are gone. I feel envious that it wasn't me who had the privilege of killing them."

Her eyes saddened as she knew the truth was that it indeed was him who killed them.

"Is that why you would never feeling an emotion such as love for me? Since you fear me because I am practically a monster and I have the ability to make you suffer to the point you'd wish for death?"

She wanted to correct him, to tell him that he wasn't a monster and she could indeed love him. However, she couldn't lie. Everything he said was true. "Itachi-kun...do you..._like_ me?"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"In case you do, I think that if anything you hold only admiration for me and you're thinking too much about this. Even if we liked each other, we can never be together."

"Why can't we be together, if I did like you?"

She whirled around to face him with frustration. "Because you are the one who ki-"

Her sentence was came to an abrupt halt as she felt his soft lips gently brush over hers. She was shocked but at the same time relieved that he, without knowing it, had stopped her from revealing to him who he actually was. He immediately pulled away, his gaze casted away to the side staring at nothing. Her jade eyes stared at him.

"Did you just...?" she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. "I...you...did you...just-"

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

Sakura turned around to face the source of the voice and saw a familiar hyperactive ninja sprinting her way. She lifted herself up from the tree, placing a smile on her face. "Naruto!"

Naruto stopped before her, breathing heavily. "I was looking all over for you, Sakura-chan! I didn't think you'd be here of all places."

"Oh. Eheh...sorry. How long are you here for?"

"Probably a few days. Ero-sennin and I happened to pass by and decided to visit. After this, though, the stupid perverted hermit said we're going to be journeying farther and probably won't be back until a year later," Naruto pouted. "Dang pervert."

"You're one too," Sakura sighed.

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, I guess. Anyway, Tsunade-baachan told me that she had some really important news to tell us. Highly confidential and superly-super-uber-duper-mega-ultra-hyper important."

Sakura turned to see Itachi had already gotten up from the ground and stood behind her. "Ah, Itachi-kun, I guess I'll see you later then."

Itachi 'hn-ed' and walked away. Sakura inwardly sighed in relief, thankful that Naruto had come and she could spend some time away from Itachi. The walk to the Hokage's Tower was peaceful and enjoyable, or so Sakura found it. Naruto was still his idiotic self, but perhaps she enjoyed it because she found it to be a good break from Itachi.

"Say, Sakura-chan, you and Itachi are awfully close," Naruto said as the two walked up the stairs of the Hokage's Tower.

Sakura blushed. "N-No! We are not like that! No! We're comrades and friends! Yes, that's it!"

"Eh?" Naruto blinked. "What are you rambling about? I was just saying that I think since you two are so close, maybe your good spirit will rub off on him and he'll turn good."

"Huh? Uh...oh," Sakura muttered, embarrassed for having jumped to conclusions.

"What did you mean with all that stuff you said, huh?" Naruto snickered. "Could it be? You and...?"

Before Naruto could go any further, Sakura was glad they had arrived at the top of the stairs and she instantly dashed to the Hokage's door, bursted into the room. "Tsunade-shishou!"

Tsunade looked up from her pile of paperwork and sighed. "Sakura, you really need to learn to knock. If you just burst in here like that, I might think we're under attacked _or_ that you're attacking me."

Sakura laughed nervously. "Sorry..."

Naruto took his time and entered the room. "Sakura-chan? Sheez, don't run off. You're starting to make me think I'm maturing and that's a really scary thought."

Tsunade stamped a paper and shoved it away before speaking. "Well, now that the two of you are here..."

"Hurry, hurry, what is it? Are we getting super cool A-class missions?" Naruto interrupted.

"If you don't want to know what it is then you can just interrupt me now and forget it," she glared at the blonde rasengan user. "As I was saying, it appears that there is someone spotted around the Fire Country. He could pose as a threat to us."

"So, are you sending us to go after him?" Sakura asked. "I'm only a chuunin and Naruto's status is still a genin, we can't possibly stop someone who is dangerous to the Leaf yet."

"I'm not asking you to go after him," Tsunade corrected. "I only want you two to be alert. Don't, I repeat _DON'T_, go after him. However, I just want you to know it so that when Naruto leaves he can look out for this guy and when you, Sakura, are assigned on missions you can also be aware of him."

"Well, if he's so dangerous then I'll kill him when I see him!" Naruto beamed confidently. "And I'll make sure he can't even lift a finger to perform any jutsus! You just tell me his name and I'll kick his ass so bad!"

"His name is..." Tsunade's eyes traveled back and forth between the blonde Kyuubi vessel and her pink-haired apprentice. The ticking of the clock rang throughout the silence.

"Uchiha, Sasuke."

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**Senko:** If everything goes according to plan, then I'm estimating another six chapters or so and this story should be finished! Also, below is a little preview of the next chapter because I started to write the chapter and decided to give you awesome readers a preview XD 

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_Next Chapter Preview_

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"_Come on, Itachi-kun! It'll be fun!" Sakura chirped, taking hold of the Uchiha's hand and dragging him off. She dashed towards the theater that Ino had told her to meet the group at, hoping that she could show Itachi that the movies were a fun place to be at. She had been so shocked to discover that he had only seen one video in his entire life; a video at the ninja academy showing off random basic techniques and fights._

_She knew Itachi was a villain, an antagonist, but just for this moment while he was still innocent, she would care for him as she cared for any of her friends. She would show him the childhood he didn't have. _

"_Just around this corner!" she beamed, making a right turn._

_Stop._

_Her smile that hung on her face slowly faded until her lips were barely parted. The excitement and joy that had earlier dominated her emerald eyes was immediately washed away as she blinked. She stopped dead in her tracks and Itachi only looked straight ahead to see the figure of a boy looking awfully similar to himself._

"_Sasuke-kun..." he heard Sakura's voice whisper._


	9. Meeting

**Senko: **Wheee 34 reviews :D I love you guys!

**ninjaxbunny: **OMG O.O; THAT WAS SOME UBERLY AWESOME SPAM! ROFL! OMG when I read your review, I couldn't help but literally laugh out loud cause it made me feel so special! No one's spammed that before xD I LUBBS YOOH!

**WinglessFallenAngel: **ROFL you read it five times XD

**borisbear: **Eh...I didn't realize that o.o; I guess that's really my fault since I took a one year break and when I continued I didn't bother to reread the entire story lol so I guess some things are out of place xD

**Rain Yimiko Natsuya: **I think I had Naruto visit Konoha for two reasons. 1) The filler episodes inspired me to do it because it showed a bunch of missions he had to do XD and 2) I couldn't leave Naruto out T-T LOL. Gotta love Naruto :D

Thanks to **Angel Of Depression, ayane04, Halfbreed741, sakura asakura, LadySakuraForest, Heartless Ghostie, Shy-Princess, Gothic Saku-chan, CosenAngel, RandomTopic, MistressBlossom, Cookies321, cherryblossom279, ANBU Inu, Xinoria, sakuragirl13579, itachi-sama a.k.a cathrun, jHeyTTernallie, bubbleyum, unbeatablehinata, deviltwit, BellBell, Hao's Anjul, Uchiha Forever, snowecat, WinglessFallenAngel, Sakura-hime9, kit, Sekiryu,** and **InuKeifer** for reviewing:)

To **alphadale**, I was wondering if you'd be my beta reader again because you didn't respond to the review reply I sent you, so yeah.

**Disclaimer:** Me no own. Duh.

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Chapter 9

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"_SASUKE_?" Naruto repeated, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"It's only rumors, Naruto," Tsunade said. "It could be true, maybe not. I just felt that you two deserved to know it, even if it was just a rumor. I've sent a couple ANBU squads to investigate already. You are dismissed, and if I find out you went after him instead of encountering him, I will make you suffer consequences."

"Of course, Tsunade-baachan. I will only _encounter_ him," Naruto smirked, leaving the room. Tsunade knew the boy would indeed "encounter" Sasuke, whether it was by chance or not.

To Tsunade's surprise, Sakura still stood before her desk even after Naruto had left. "What is it, Sakura? Or did you want to spend some quality time with me?"

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but closed it immediately contemplating whether or not she should say it. Then she finally decided to speak. "Itachi's been growing awfully fast. He might just be having a growth spurt, but I doubt he would grow so fast in a period of a couple weeks or so. He used to be the same height as me. I wasn't sure if I should bring it to your attention or not."

Tsunade leaned back against her chair and exhaled. "I've been suspecting that the potion would be wearing off soon."

"O-oh..." Sakura's voice lowered in disappointment. "Then...what will we do?"

"For now just keep him away from Sasuke. When the potion wears off we'll drug him again."

"Why not drug him now? What if he regains his memories and leaves?"

"Because it'll make him younger," Tsunade stated. "Let's say he's turning back to a seventeen-year-old and right now he's changed from twelve to fifteen. If you use it on him then it'll make him even younger. He'll lose the memories he gained of you and of Konoha _and_ he'll lack more in skills since he's younger."

"Oh..."

"Just take the potion with you and when you think he's nearing to seventeen, drug him before he escapes."

"Yes, Shishou," Sakura whispered. For a moment she stood there in front of the Hokage's desk, staring down at the ground before she brought her head up to meet her teacher's gaze. "I was wondering..."

"Hm?"

"Well, I just thought...that, well," she wasn't sure how to say it. "Well, I was thinking maybe Itachi-kun can stay with someone else? Or better yet, what if he's to find his own apartment? Or what if he goes back to the Uchiha estate?"

After she had suggested it, she immediately regretted it. She didn't want it to sound as though she didn't enjoy the Uchiha's company because truth be told she thought he was decent and polite. She also didn't want it to sound as though she feared him or that she was selfish and didn't want to reside with an S-class criminal.

She wasn't even sure why she had said it. She knew she should have just kept quiet, go with the flow. But she was scared and she knew that if he continued to live with her, something might happen. Perhaps he'll grow to develop stronger feelings for her?

"Oh?" came her teacher's response to her suggestion. "Are things not going well? I thought the two of you were getting along well."

"I just thought Itachi-kun probably doesn't want to be living with me. You know, random little kunoichi who's not as strong as him," she tried her best to make up an excuse. "And I'm sure he finds it unnecessary to live with me, don't you think so? Shishou?"

The blonde Godaime sighed. "I suppose you're right, but unfortunately that can't happen any time soon."

"EH?" the rosette kunoichi felt disappointment rise within her. "Why is that?"

"As we had just been discussing together earlier, Itachi is returning back to his old self. If the two of you continue living together, then you can keep a better eye on him. I had thought that as a bright student you'd have realized this."

Sakura let out a small nervous laughter. "O-Of course, Shishou...I don't know why I didn't think of that."

"I believe hanging around Naruto too much has caused his contagious stupidity to rub off on you," Tsunade said, a small smirk gracing her face as she considered the possibility of Naruto not only touching the lives of many others but also spreading his brain or lack thereof. A seriousness soon erased the playful look on her face. "Or could it be that you're fearing him?"

"Fear him?"

"Don't worry, Sakura. I trust you can handle him if he ever decides he wants to kill you. As long as you keep a good eye on him you should be able to tell if he's plotting something. Don't be a scaredy-cat now."

"I-I don't fear him!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's not that – it's something else."

"Then enlighten me. What is so bad about this harmless Itachi?"

Sakura gave no reply. She couldn't bring herself to straightforwardly say that Itachi could liker her in a more than friendly way. How could she tell the Hokage that the S-class criminal had kissed her just moments ago? She turned, starting towards the door. "Nevermind, Tsunade-shishou."

When she had returned home, night had already fallen and she was thankful that Itachi was cooped up in his room as always. She didn't know how she would face him now.

* * *

"Ah, Sakura-san?" 

Sakura looked up from where she sat, turning to the source of the voice that radiated from the hospital door. It was another medic-nin that worked alongside her. "Yes?"

The medic-nin, an adult woman with light brown hair, walked in and gently placed a folder on the desk Sakura sat at. "I was told to deliver this to you. And..."

"And?"

"Well, some of us have been concerned about you is all. You usually don't work night shifts but these past couple of days you've been here at dawn and you don't leave until midnight. I think you're overworking yourself," she said, concern clearly written over her face.

Sakura supposed she shouldn't have felt surprised at all – in fact, she should have expected this. After all, she was the top medic-nin of the hospital (excluding Tsunade because Tsunade had Hokage issues to tend to and couldn't be bothered with the hospital) and they couldn't afford to have an unhealthy, sleep-deprived and exhausted medic-nin. "I'm sorry for worrying you like that. I'll try to stay well, thank you."

"You better," the medic-nin smiled. "Well, I'm off now. Good night and see you tomorrow, Sakura-san."

"See you."

When the medic-nin left, Sakura was left alone in the cold hospital room. It had been a couple days since her "moment" with Itachi and her discovery of the rumors of Sasuke roaming around the Fire Country. Since then she'd been avoiding Itachi.

She feared what would happen when she faced him again because that would mean she would have to confront the awkwardness. Of all people, she hadn't expect for _the_ Uchiha, Itachi to be the one who would take her first kiss. Normally she would have screamed at him, angered that he would do such a thing.

But she couldn't.

She couldn't bring herself to be infuriated with the Uchiha boy, but she couldn't bring herself to forget everything. When he had started to live with her she would have felt scared, but she immediately came to realize that he wasn't who he really was. He was his past self, the good citizen of Konoha, the ANBU captain. She didn't know how he had come to like her along the way.

She detested the idea of living under the same roof as and being polite to the murderer of the Uchiha clan, the one who had inflicted so much pain and trouble unto her teammates. She admitted the obvious that he was attractive and powerful, but regardless she couldn't bring herself to view him as anything more than a roommate.

It would wrong on so many levels for her to like him.

These past few days she spent avoiding him, she had put much thought into their last conversation. She desperately wanted to know what it was about her that he liked, and no matter how hard she searched she couldn't find anything. Vaguely she wondered if he was plotting something and that it was all an act.

She sighed, glancing over to the clock that told it was almost midnight. _'I should go home now...'_

* * *

"Alrighty, Lee-san," Sakura adjusted the bandage around Lee's left arm. "You're okay now, but really you must stop being so competitive." 

"But Sakura-san, competition is the flame of youth!" Lee beamed. "I shall not lose to Neji!"

Sakura let out a dejected sighed. "What is with you boys and competition...okay, _some_ competition is good but you boys really need to know when to draw the line. It was a dangerous mission...I can't believe you challenged Neji-san during such a mission!"

"Ah, sorry, Sakura-san," Lee smiled apologetically. "From now on, I shall listen to your remarkable words of wisdom! They are the words of youth!"

Sakura could only gently shake her head at the unbelievable Green Beast of Konoha. He never ceased to amaze her with his terrifyingly freaky optimism. "Well, I've got to go now. Get lots of rest and be sure to stay well so you can leave as soon as possible, Lee-san."

(1) A cheerful "Okay, Sakura-san!" followed as Sakura's footsteps lead her out of the door and onto the pure white hallways of the hospital (save for a few paintings that hung here and there). She made her way to the room where all records of patients were kept and searched around the large shelves and cabinets to find Lee's portfolio.

To her dismay, she couldn't find Rock Lee's folder among the "L" section. She grunted in frustration as her inner self told her she should be irresponsible and just leave the information somewhere and head home. Suddenly, the mention of home had Sakura reconsidering her choices and she let out a deep breath before starting at one corner and scanning each and every name on the portfolio tabs.

It took her a long time to locate Lee's folder and she assumed perhaps one of the medics was having a bad day and misplaced the folder. Taking hold of the side of the folder, she slid it out of its place roughly, frustrated at the clumsiness of the nurses to make a mistake.

When she had taken hold of Lee's folder, a small 'thud' stole her attention.

She quickly placed the information inside of Lee's folder and shifted it slightly to see another folder down on the ground. She had pulled the folder out too rough and caused another folder to slide out as well. She sighed bending down to pick up the fallen portfolio, but when her slender fingers made its way around the side of the folder Sakura could only stare at the name inscribed on the tab.

_Uchiha, Itachi_

She closed her eyes and exhaled as she stood up again with his documentations in her hand. How ironic this all seemed to her. When her eyes opened again, she found it hard to tear them away from Itachi's name. She decided to review his information and stalked over to a nearby desk and sat in a comfortable rolling chair.

_Uchiha, Itachi_

_Father: Uchiha, Fugaku_

_Mother: Uchiha, Mikoto_

_Siblings: Uchiha, Sasuke (younger brother)_

_Date of Birth: June 9_

_Background: From the prestigious Uchiha Clan. Graduated as top rookie of the class, mastered Sharingan at age 8, became a Chuunin at age 10 and shortly after that achieved Jounin and ANBU captain rank._

_Number of D-rank missions: 10_

_Number of C-rank missions: 14_

_Number of B-rank missions: 6_

_Number of A-rank missions: 3_

_Number of missions failed: 1_

She flipped the page, glancing over the information from the times he had been sent to the hospital. She was impressed that with all the high level missions he had been assigned to he had only been to the hospital a few times, as compared to her boisterous blonde teammate who had the uncanny ability to and inevitable fate of always getting hurt.

She returned to the first page. _'So his dad's name was Fugaku and his mom was Mikoto. I wonder if his mom was a kunoichi...probably was. Birthday is June 9_

_'Didn't expect for him to have a birthday?' _her inner self questioned, laughing.

She sighed. _'Well of course. I completely forgot he had a birthday, what with him being all cold and murderous like a monster-'_

She instantly stopped her rambling to herself upon realizing what she'd just said. Immediately she regretted it because he had never shown her that side of him that was anything like a monster. In fact, she only said it because of what she'd heard about him – the skills he possessed, the way he massacred his clan and betrayed the Leaf, the way he was so powerful.

"_Is that how you view me?" _

No, it wasn't how she viewed him. It was how the world viewed him. If she were to forget what she'd heard, block out all the rumors, erase all the things everyone told her about him, she had to admit he was just like her.

He was a shinobi and she was a kunoichi. He belonged to the Uchiha and she to the Haruno. He knew taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu and so did she. They both obeyed orders from their village. The only difference was that he held much more power and talent over her.

"_They would make me train from dawn until dusk and repeat the steps everyday." _

His words rang in her head, and she found she couldn't ignore the factor that allowed him to gain so much power. He was naturally a prodigy and very talented, but what pushed him to become a monster was the training and pressure he received. Had it not been for that factor, perhaps he would have been just like regular skilled shinobis...like Sasuke, like Kakashi, like Neji, like Lee, like Shikamaru, like everyone else.

He was a gifted boy, a regular human, but he was turned into something much resembling a monster. Before the killing, before the corruption, before the evil...

"_Is that why you would never feeling an emotion such as love for me? Since you fear me because I am practically a monster and I have the ability to make you suffer to the point you'd wish for death?" _

...lied an innocent boy whose purity was taken advantaged of, an innocent boy who was turned into a tool for his own clan because of their desire for power and a strong clan head.

"_Can I come and 'hang out' with you at the hospital?" _

With all the training and pressure, he was most likely deprived of having a proper childhood, just like how Sasuke and Gaara were.

"_No, I'll carry you." _

Regardless of how much strength he wielded, he was generous to her.

"_Ino told me it was your birthday." _

He was considerate – even though it wasn't necessary he still bought her that necklace, that necklace that she'd worn often and it dangled around her neck right now.

"_And the eyes of everyone else held only envy, hatred, or fear."_

And in the end, she was just like everyone else. She would ignore all the things he did, all the positive things he did because she feared his power. She didn't return Lee and Naruto's feelings, but that was because she viewed Lee only has a friend and Naruto was more of a brother to her. Yet instead of viewing Itachi as only a friend like she did to Lee, she believed his feelings were wrong.

She believed it was wrong because of his reputation. Because he was a monster. Because he was powerful. Because he was Akatsuki. Because he left the Leaf. Was it fair that she was being biased towards him because of all of this?

Despite all of the bad things he'd done, just for right now he was cleansed of it all. Now was his chance to relive his innocence and she was holding his reality against him.

Sakura's fingers slightly tightened around the edge of the portfolio. _'June 9th...is today.'_

Jade eyes diverted from the peach colored folder to the plain clock that hung on the wall across where she sat. It was eleven at night and she was positive all stores would be closed by now. She sighed, pondering what she could get for the Uchiha. Her hand unconsciously went up to clutch the necklace he'd bought her for her birthday. _'Think, Sakura, think!'_

Wait.

Her fingers unfolded to reveal the half broken heart pendant that it was wrapped around just seconds ago.

* * *

"Come on...where is it...?" Sakura grumbled in frustration, searching through each and every drawer of her desk. She had ran as fast as she could to her home and immediately headed to her room to look for the other half of the two piece necklace that Itachi had given her for her birthday. She sighed, not knowing where she had placed it. 

"Ah!" Sakura exclaimed as her eyes laid upon a small pink box on the top shelf that extended from her desk. How could she had forgotten she placed in that box? Standing on her tip toes, Sakura reached up and grabbed the box and when she opened it, sure enough the necklace was still there in perfect condition.

She turned to look at her clock on the wall. Five minutes before midnight, so technically it was still Itachi's birthday.

She dashed out of her room and made her way to Itachi's room. Fortunately, she didn't have to run very far because his room was right across the hall from hers and it only took her a few steps to reach his room, but she was so impatient she still ran. She turned the doorknob and burst into the dark room, completely oblivious to the fact that Itachi would be sleeping at this hour. But he wasn't in his bed.

A sharp kunai was placed against her neck and Sakura could sense an all too familiar presence standing behind her.

"Sakura?"

She didn't know why it was now that she suddenly found his voice so smooth and somehow it calmed her. A small smile crept onto her face but it was unseen in the darkness. The kunai at her neck slid away. "You know, it's funny how you gave me a birthday present five minutes before midnight." She turned around to face him, the other half of the two piece necklace clutched in her hand. "And now I'm giving you yours five minutes before midnight as well."

The light from her room was still on and shined against Itachi's back. For a moment they stood there at the front of Itachi's room, simply staring at one another. After a few moments, Sakura remembered that Itachi was not the type to be enthusiastic about receiving a gift from her; he would go bouncing around the room like Naruto or cry tears of joy like Lee.

Her hand reached over to take his hand in her own and gently she placed the necklace in the palm of his hand, her fingers making his fingers wrap around the necklace before withdrawing. "Happy birthday, Itachi-kun. I know it must be odd to receive the other half of the necklace and especially when two pieces form a heart, but I'm hoping you'll think it's the thought that counts."

And with that, she walked past him and out of his room heading for her's. She was stopped by two words right before entering her room.

"Thank you."

She couldn't help but let a smile adorn her face before she stepped inside her room and shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Surprisingly, the next day Sakura didn't wake up at the crack of dawn like she had been doing these past few days. Instead, she woke up half an hour before her shift began and thoughts of Itachi never even crossed her mind. She no longer felt bothered with how he felt about her or what he had done. 

When she finished dressing and entered the kitchen to grab some breakfast before leaving, Itachi was sitting at the table sharpening his kunai. "Will you come with me to the hospital today, Itachi-kun?"

She watched as he looked up and stared at her before muttering "Alright" and proceeding to put his weapons away. She suppose he must have been surprised to hear her offer seeing as she had been avoiding him for days. After breakfast, the two made their way to the hospital where Sakura resumed her shift with her unofficial Uchiha assistant.

She felt so foolish for trying to keep away from him. It was now that she realized how much faster time went by when she was with him, because although he didn't converse much at least he would keep her company and listen to her. Her mind was also so much clearer now.

Time flew by and soon the two found that it was already sunset. Sakura skipped ahead of Itachi as they walked down the halls of the hospital, trying to head out of the white building and onto the streets of Konoha to head back home. They stopped upon exiting the hospital when they saw the figure of a blonde girl pacing back and forth.

"Ino?" Sakura said aloud.

Ino faced the two and beamed. "Finally! I've been waiting forever for the two of you to come! I was beginning to think you guys slacked off and ditched work!"

"You were waiting?" Sakura questioned.

"Everyone's going to the Leaf Theatre and I came to invite you two," Ino beamed. "And get this, we're going to be watching this odd movie called 'Naruto: Shippuden the Movie' because that idiot Naruto's leaving tomorrow and coincidentally someone named a movie 'Naruto.' Talk about bad taste in names...eck."

Sakura let out a small laughter. "Yeah, huh? Well, when is it showing?"

"In half an hour. Well, I'm off to drag that lazy ass Shikamaru there," Ino chirped, dashing off, "and I better see you two there!"

"Well, this sounds exciting," Sakura said.

"Yeah, have fun," Itachi said, walking off.

Sakura frowned as she watched the Uchiha walk away. "What do you mean by that! And you're going the wrong way, so get back here!"

Itachi stopped and turned back to face her. "Movies aren't my thing."

Sakura gasped. "You're lying! I bet you _love_ movies."

"How can I love something I've only known once."

"What!" Sakura exclaimed in disbelief. "Only once?! That can't be true! You're deprived! What did you watch?"

"Random video from the ninja academy."

"You poor thing," Sakura stalked up to Itachi. "You need to do more things!"

"I don't care about that sort of stuff," he stated indifferently. "It is only a distraction."

"Come on, Itachi-kun! It'll be fun!" Sakura chirped, taking hold of the Uchiha's hand and dragging him off. She dashed towards the theater that Ino had told her to meet the group at, hoping that she could show Itachi that the movies were a fun place to be at. She had been so shocked to discover that he had only seen one video in his entire life; a video at the ninja academy showing off random basic techniques and fights.

She knew Itachi was a villain, an antagonist, but just for this moment while he was still innocent, she would care for him as she cared for any of her friends. She would show him the childhood he didn't have.

"Just around this corner!" she beamed, making a right turn.

Stop.

Her smile that hung on her face slowly faded until her lips were barely parted. The excitement and joy that had earlier dominated her emerald eyes was immediately washed away as she blinked. She stopped dead in her tracks and Itachi only looked straight ahead to see the figure of a boy looking awfully similar to himself.

"Sasuke-kun..." he heard Sakura's voice whisper.

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**Senko:** I felt this chapter was short...o.O; but well, that's what was planned for this chapter. Oh yeah, I don't know how long it'll take me to get the next chapter done because right now...well, I'm not for sure that I'm going to enter two contests but I'm trying to. One's a manga contest and another's just a plain art contest, so yeah. I'm rather busy with school and so now that I'm trying to enter the contests I might be more busy. But don't worry, the deadlines are September 21 and 31 :D I'll be done quickly. I'm only _trying_, though, because I might not meet the deadline D: so yep. 

(1) I really don't know if doctors and stuff actually do this o.O; but I remember the last time I went to the doctor, I saw they had a bunch of shelves filled with portfolios and this just struck me as an idea, so yeah.


	10. Departure

**Senko:** I am so very sorry for leaving you readers like that xD but I just had to. Evil, eh?

**sakuraasakura** So sorry for such a late update D: and as for the ItaSaku scenes...eh...uh...('.') aha...ha o.O; well, uh I think you'll hate me for this chapter? T-T

**Rain YimikoNatsuya: **Nuuuh :) your reply (as you said on my DA) is not short XD the cookies and lollipops made up for it! X3 lol

**JUCHKO: **OMGOMG :D I feel so honored to have you review to my story! I love you and I love your awesome awesome awesome fanfics! XD

**Infinity Edge:** I have a beta reader, but of course I still appreciate more beta offers because it would help my writing more ;) are you offering?

Many thanks to **ayane04, MinakoeternallyfallingsnowXinoria, ANBU InuSkullcandy, Yukiko, InuKeiferRandomTopic, Heartless Ghostiedeviltwit, 43InuAsha, CosenAngelunbeatablehinataHao'sAnjulSkivaVixenitachi-samaa.k.acathrun, Gothic Saku-chan, Sakura2.0, Deidaras Masterpiece WinglessFallenAngel, les-liaisons-dangereuseskattylin** **UchihaSakura95, renyunBlackBaccaraRose, Mayumi Crescent Moon **and **mahalo4ursupport** for reviewing!

Last but not least, super special thanks to my awesome beta-reader **Alphadale** for beta-ing :D What would I ever do without you :O

**Disclaimer:**Me no own. Duh.

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Chapter 10

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To Sakura, it felt as though time itself had stopped. It was as though she was in a movie, and her audience had malevolently pressed the pause button on the remote control, leaving her frozen in front of her former Uchiha teammate. She felt the urge to run up to him, to smile at him and tell him how everyone had missed him, to ask him how he had been all these years, and to try to convince him to stay with them.

But her gentle grip on the hand of Sasuke's older brother, prevented her from doing such things.

Here she was, standing in the center of everything not knowing what to do. For so many years, she had pined the attention of Uchiha, Sasuke, and although he had decided to leave her and everything else that he had for revenge, she could never find it in her heart to hate him. Now the one time she had finally seen him again, she was holding the hand of his ultimate enemy.

At the same time though, she couldn't bring herself to leave Itachi. She had come to learn too much about the Uchiha brothers, and now she found it impossible for her to leave either one.

"What is this, Sakura?" Sasuke's ever so smooth voice spoke, earning a blink from Sakura as she was dragged away from her thoughts.

"S-Sasuke-kun," she managed to choke out.

"You've grown," he smirked, but his smirk soon disappeared and was replaced with a frown as his eyes shifted to focus on his younger/older brother. "It's too bad your companion didn't. I wonder why?"

Itachi remained silent as his gaze with Sasuke locked. He had wanted to aid Sasuke in avenging the Uchiha clan but now that he was facing his brother, he wasn't sure what to do. Run up and hug him?

"Why are you here...Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, slightly tightening her grip around Itachi's hand.

"So eager to have me leave?"

"No! No, of course not, Sasuke-kun," Sakura exclaimed, a weak smile on her face. Sasuke's intentions were unknown to her but regardless of whatever they were; she definitely did not want him to be under the false belief that she no longer welcomed him. "It's just...surprising."

"Sasuke-kun!" a voice squealed. It was a woman with red hair, and she was running towards the direction of Sasuke, followed by two other men. "Suigetsu and Juugo just fought some guards. If we leave now, (a fangirl-ish glint shined in her eyes) you and I can escape together."

"Hn. Be quiet, Karin," he said, his eyes never even looking at her to acknowledge her. Instead his eyes were glued to the two figures before him, taking notice of the closeness of Sakura and Itachi. "I see you're as weak as always, Sakura."

"Sakura?" Karin peered over at the rosette kunoichi, her index and middle fingers brought up to the side of her glasses, adjusting it.

"Sakura is not weak," Itachi spoke up at last, defending the girl he was infatuated with. "You shouldn't judge someone without knowing who they are."

Itachi was surprised to receive a glare from his brother. "You think you know her better than I do? I know her longer and better than you ever could! Sakura is weak and she'll always be weak! To be so intimate with someone of your nature (his eyes shifted to look at Sakura), how pathetic."

"It's not like that!" Sakura argued, not wanting Sasuke to think anything bad of her.

"You've betrayed me," Sasuke said in a low growl.

Itachi questioned what Sasuke had meant by that statement. He knew that Sakura would never betray a friend, and he also knew there was no way Sakura would have committed a betrayal by...going to the movies with Itachi?

Sakura could feel tears stinging her eyes, and her hand that was still around Itachi's hand, unconsciously tightened in infuriation before she finally let go of her hold on him. Of all the times she had stayed by his side when he was injured, of all the times she had woken up in the middle of the night worried about him and praying he was all right, and of all the times she had cried for him. "I did _not_ betray you, Sasuke!"

"Then why-"

"Don't even try to pretend to be innocent!" Sakura glowered at him, her eyes lit up in rage. "What about the hope that everyone and I had for you? We gave you everything, but _you_ betrayed all of us. You have no right to come back here acting innocent like you've done nothing wrong! I did not deceive you, so don't accuse me of betrayal when you don't even know the truth!

"The truth?" Sasuke growled, drawing the blade of his sword. "I know the fact that you're with Itachi, and that's all I need to know. I won't allow him to keep on taking everything away from me!"

And with that, Sasuke lunged towards the direction of Itachi with his sword in hand. Sakura gasped and attempted to cover Itachi, but he was quicker and shoved her away before dodging Sasuke's attack.

Just when Sakura thought she was safe, she sensed a kunai directed at her and instantly jumped out of the way. The kunai flew past her and dug into a nearby wooden fence. Sakura looked into the direction of the kunai to see Karin standing there, a smirk on her face. "You should show some respect to Sasuke-kun."

"Karin," the buff man said in a warning tone.

"I know, I know, Juugo," Karin glared at Sakura.

"Then you shouldn't, you know," said another man, a skinnier one, recalling a certain event and understanding the consequences of killing this pink-haired kunoichi before them.

"I won't kill her, Suigetsu, as much as I would love to."

_Sasuke sat leaning against the wall of the hotel room, the giant window right above him, allowing the moon's illumination to gently beat against his skin. As always, he looked so perfect. To save money, the four of them would always rent a room and share it. After all, it wasn't as though any of them needed any major privacy._

"_Sasuke-kun, you should really get some sleep," Karin said, worried about the boy who was bandaged up. It had been days since they left Orochimaru's hideout. _

_Unluckily for them, while Sasuke had been left with Karin (much to his dismay), and Suigetsu and Juugo went to hunt for food, they had been attacked. They had been to a town earlier that day before continuing on their trek to Konohagakure and apparently, a villager must have spotted someone from their group and_ _recognized the person – most likely Sasuke – and alerted ANBU. The ANBU then began to scout the area and found Sasuke's team and attacked._

_Reflecting back on the events, Sasuke was infuriated because of his lack of power. He was successful in fending off the ANBU members, but a year and a half with Orochimaru didn't get him enough power yet. He mentally noted to bother Orochimaru for more training when he returned._

_So here he sat in a weakened state._

_Suigetsu sighed. "I knew I should have stayed. If I was with Sasuke, we could have seriously kicked those ANBUs' asses. I bet you just sat there and played princess while Sasuke had to be burdened with saving you, huh, Karin?"_

"_S-Shut up!" Karin argued. "I fought some!"_

"_Some," Suigetsu sighed, "but not enough, right Scaredy-cat?"_

"_You bastard!" she screamed in anger, getting up and walking over to him to commence_ '_kicking the crap out of him'. Normally, here would be the perfect time for Sasuke to tell them to quit fighting._

_But that didn't happen._

_Instead, Sasuke's light chuckle filled the dark room._

_And three pairs of eyes darted over to Sasuke's direction, shocked at this._ _Sasuke had always been so stoic and serious, so straight-to-the-point, indifferent, impatient, and never tolerating such childish behavior._

"_Sasuke...?" Juugo whispered, unsure of whether Sasuke was being possessed by some unknown force._

"_You two are funny," Sasuke remarked upon being reminded of how he and his former blonde teammate used to act, earning even more confused gazes from his present teammates._

Clang.

Itachi's shuriken came into contact with Sasuke's own shurikens and both were deflected. He had to admit that he was impressed with Sasuke's abilities; in fact, Sasuke rivaled him in strength as of now. The only thing he was disappointed about was the fact that instead of fighting alongside his brother, he was fighting against his brother.

Why was this so?

Was this really the brother he had known?

"_I think he meant Karin's face looks funny," Suigetsu teased, earning a deadly glower from Karin that went unseen in the dark._

(1) "_Do you miss them?" Juugo asked out of the blue._

_Suigetsu, Karin, and Sasuke looked over at Juugo's dark figure that rested against a wall adjacent to the one Sasuke was leaning against. Suigetsu and Karin stopped their arguing, pondering why Juugo would ask such a question, and why he would even dare to ask it to Sasuke._

_Clearly, Sasuke was not the type to smile and say "I love everyone and miss everyone; flowers and bunnies are my favorite and I want to go back home to Konoha." Well that was exaggerated, but you get the point._

_There was an eerie silence in the room as Sasuke's teammate_s_ awaited his answer. When he gave none,_ _Suigetsu and Karin were prepared to return to their dispute. But it was then that Sasuke interfered._

"_Sometimes."_

_The words came out so smoothly, and his three teammates sat there in disbelief at what had happened. Sasuke had told them something personal._

"_Who?" Karin asked, wanting to have a clarification of what the two boys were talking about._

"_Man, you're retarded," Suigetsu said. Everyone knew that Sasuke had belonged to the Leaf before joining Orochimaru, so what other "them" could he be possibly missing? It was most definitely Konoha that Juugo was referring to._

"_Then why did you do it?" Juugo questioned further._

_Sasuke exhaled, leaning closer against the wall and closing his eyes. "Because sometimes we must give up the things we want about in order to obtain the things we need."_

Sakura leapt backwards to evade the punch that Karin had thrown at her. She didn't know who this girl was, but all she knew was that it was an enemy. Yet at the same time she couldn't bring herself to seriously face this opponent because this girl was Sasuke's comrade.

_'Focus, Sakura!'_ her inner self screamed. _'She's an enemy!'_

_'Alright, focus...'_ Sakura told herself inwardly and inhaled. Sakura gathered the chakra into her fist, lunged towards Karin to close the wide gap between them and punched the ground, causing the ground to erupt. She saw a look of shock appear on Karin's face for a split second but to her dismay, the man Karin had referred to as Suigetsu, jumped in and pushed her away.

"Man, you're so weak," he said, dropping her on the ground.

"Shut up!" she screamed, glaring at him.

"Watch how it's done, Scaredy-cat," Suigetsu said, immediately launching himself at Sakura.

"I can fight too!" Karen exclaimed, taking out a few shurikens and aiming them at Sakura in an attempt to stop Suigetsu from taking all the credit.

"The life of a shinobi is never easy," Juugo's whisper was barely heard throughout the quiet room.

The two Uchihas stood a good distance away from one another, gently panting from their fight. But of course as Uchihas they tried to suppress it and act as though they were almighty. For a moment they did nothing but stare at each other, hatred from one side and confusion in the other.

"Why, Sasuke?" Itachi's barely audible voice questioned.

Sasuke was infuriated. He knew that Itachi would ask why due to the lack of memories, but that word coming from the mouth of the murderer of his clan still enraged him. He felt that Itachi had no right to ask why they were fighting because Itachi had destroyed his family and now stolen the people he had cared about.

"Because…" he brought his hands together forming seals, and immediately a sound of chirping birds radiated from the bright blue glow surrounding his hand.

"_SASUKE!"_

"YOU KILLED MY FAMILY!"

Suddenly, the Mangekyou user couldn't find it within him to dodge the strike.

And it was only when he felt the liquid soak his outfit, shifted his head downwards and saw the once clean road, stained in a crimson shade that he finally registered what had happened.

"_SASUKE!"_

Naruto's voice roared throughout the area, causing Sakura to look up from the fight and focus on the blonde shinobi who'd just appeared. It was then that the all too familiar sound and shape of Chidori filled her senses, and an immediate feeling of fear rose from within her. She prayed that no one precious to her would be hurt or worse, killed, but it seemed her prayers were not answered.

To her, it was as though time itself had stopped as she watched the younger Uchiha aim his chidori at his elder brother. It had happened so quickly and with Sasuke's tremendous speed, the scene ended in the blink of an eye.

When she witnessed his blood dripping to the ground, her legs admitted defeat in her battle against Karen and Suigetsu. And she soon found herself dashing as fast as she could towards Itachi. "Itachi!"

Sasuke simply stood and watched the weakened form of Itachi drop down to his knees. For so long he'd waited to do this, for so long he had anticipated to see Itachi defeated by his hands.

"Sasuke!" Naruto reached out and grabbed his former Uchiha comrade by the one collar that wasn't slipping off his shoulder. "Why did you do that!"

Sasuke only held a look of indifference, completely unfazed by the fact that he might have just killed his own brother seconds ago, and this allowed for the anger inside of Naruto to rise. For so long he'd been alone and when he met Sasuke, he had thought that he finally found the closest thing to a brother he could ever have.

Sure, he knew that all the things Itachi had done were bad, but he had to admit that Itachi in his condition was completely harmless, and Sasuke had no right to perform such a technique on a blood-related brother. This could have been the continuation and renewal of the once shattered broken bond between Sasuke and Itachi, this could have been the chance for Sasuke to come back to the Leaf.

And just like that, Sasuke would attempt to kill his own brother and do so in such a stoic manner.

When she got to him, Sakura wasted no time. She immediately channeled the chakra to her hand and placed it on his stomach. Her other hand encircled his shoulder, forcing him to move from his kneeling position to a sitting one. She was sure he could feel her hands shaking in fear. "It'll be alright, Itachi-kun…"

She was scared he had died (although she knew that a prodigy like him couldn't be taken down soon), but his breathing told her that he was very much alive. It was the distant look in his eyes that she feared, and she wondered to no end as she healed him if he was alright. "J-Just a bit more and you should be able to have enough strength to walk to the hospital."

But as soon as she said those words, his hand reached up and grabbed her hand that was healing his injury and directed it away from him. The scene of her healing him reminded her so much of that time when he'd first used the Mangekyou Sharingan on her by accident. "Itachi-kun…?"

Why had he stopped her healing?

"You're right…" he muttered.

Naruto and Sasuke stopped their dispute to watch Itachi.

"Itachi-kun?" Sakura stared at him with worry-filled eyes.

"I did kill our family."

"W-What, Itachi-kun? You did no such thing, now just let me continue healing you and…and we'll head over to the hospital and finish up the healing-"

"You're right…that age isn't an issue," he said, directing this statement more towards Sakura.

"Itachi…" she had unconsciously taken off the intimate suffix.

"Because the real problem," his head lifted and his blood red Mangekyou Sharingan bore into her innocent, emerald orbs, "is that I am Akatsuki."

And she found her world turn dark.

-

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"IS SHE OK?!"

"Yes, yes, Tsunade-sama. Naruto informed us that she was exposed to the Mangekyou Sharingan."

"What the hell happened!"

"I apologize, Hokage-sama, my flame of youth must be slowly fading, for my senses were not sharp enough to detect the presence of Sasuke and his companions in Konohagakure."

"Geez…this is so troublesome…"

"What about the guards?"

"Knocked out. Seems Sasuke has some strong comrades."

"Tsunade-sama, I told you to stop drinking so much. If you weren't so drunk, maybe you could have caught him."

"Yeah, yeah, Shizune. Anything else?"

"When the other jounins were informed and arrived at the battle scene, well, you know what happened there because you saw Sasuke use the Summoning no Jutsu and escape. Naruto went after him."

There was a silence in the room.

"What about Itachi?"

"Perhaps he ran away? Is it possible for him to recover his memories? He did use the Mangekyou Sharingan on Sakura-san."

"Perhaps. We'll have to wait until Jiraiya brings Naruto back, so we can ask him."

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**Senko:**The end. Haha I'm just kidding. This is _NOT THE END_ :P if it really was the end, I bet everyone would kill me lol nope, this is not, cannot, and shall not be the ending. There are about four chapters left :3

And I'm so sorry for the late update! Well, anyway this is my Halloween treat for all you wonderful readers, and have I managed to scare you with the ending of this chapter:P hope I did xD

I really don't know much about Juugo or Suigetsu. I made Juugo say this because, well, what with the whole animals detecting chakra and stuff, he sounds rather sensitive and kind to me :)

One final thing! Halloween is approaching ;D and I am working on getting treats (er…fanfic and fanart treats) for you awesome readers ;) The first treat is this update, and the second treat is…-drumroll-

http:// animesenko. deviantart. com / art / PeinSaku-A-Painful-Love-68445086

Remove the spaces :) Hopefully all PeinSaku fans will like this treat and for all the non PeinSaku fans, I hope this has scarred you for life o.O; there MIGHT be more treats, which will most likely be "Thank You" update, TobiSaku fanart, or Team Seven Halloween fanart. I'm trying to get it done D; but I'm lazy and busy with school. I'll try my best.


	11. First Encounter

**Senko:** ...-attempts to dodge knives being thrown at her- ;; I'm so sorry for such a late update. I really wanted to finish this story asap because I know how it'll end in my head already and heck it's already planned out in my notebook D: but I was busy. And when winter break arrived, it was one of my goals of this winter break to finish this story. But starting in December, my ghey ass comp wasn't functioning properly -.-; and then it just broke! O.o it wouldn't work! And I finally got it fixed just now.

Many thanks to **fujifangirl101, akatsuki's hikari, renyun, ReemyCreamy, Shy-Princess, Deidaras Masterpiece, aznkitty180, Mayumi Crescent Moon, Hao'sAnjul, kattylin, MistressBlossom, Uchiha Kari, LadySakuraForest, princessai4ever, itachi-sama a.k.a cathrun, sakura asakura, whiteinu1, Sw33t.Stuff.Sakura, Gothic Saku-chan, Heartless Ghostie, .My.Beautiful.Rescue., saiyan prince1, deviltwit, ayane04, Emo Vanpire Princess Bella, IHateTheLog, Anita Tseu, kit, unbeatablehinata, silverXakaXtsuki, Kinomi-chan, 43InuAsha, Zephyrette, Sailormooninukag, Lulu2006, shadox, EmeraldEyes69, XxAnime HokagexX, xXCute SakuraXx, **and** Agata **for reviewing:)

And as always, special thanks to my awesome beta-reader** Alphadale **:D

**Disclaimer:**Me no own. Duh.

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**Chapter 11**

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_Step. Step. Step._

Pause.

_Step. Step._

Naruto flopped down on a nearby chair, situated just beside the hospital room's door. One thing he never liked about hospitals was the silence. Every step he took in his pacing back and forth would echo in the long, quiet hallway. He shut his eyes briefly for a few seconds before opening them again, standing up, and facing the door, the tips of his fingers gently touching the cold doorknob.

His hand dropped down to his side.

Just a few days ago it had happened. Sasuke had come to Konohagakure and Itachi had returned to his grown up self. Naruto hadn't wanted to believe in it at all.

He had chased after Sasuke, who chased after the fleeing Itachi. When he was brought back to the village, he was questioned whether or not Itachi had regained memories. He wanted to say 'no,' that it seemed like Itachi was about to but didn't and that all it would take was another dose of the age drug to win Itachi back.

But he couldn't.

So here he was, in front of his female teammate's hospital room, internally debating whether or not he should tell her. He didn't want to lie to her or never tell her, but at the same time he knew he would be unable to watch her as he tells her that one of the most important people around her has yet again left her. She should be conscious from the attack of the Mangekyou Sharingan by now.

Naruto let out a soft sigh. Perhaps he should give this more thought.

"Naruto?"

Naruto whirled around to be met with a kunoichi much similar to him, possessing the same golden hair and blue eyes. "Oh...hey, Ino."

Ino smiled gently at him. "Aren't you going to go in?"

His eyes casted away to the side. "I don't know."

* * *

_One week later._

"Good morning, Ino!" Sakura beamed.

"Eh...uh, morning...Fore-...uh, Sakura," Ino replied.

"Ah, I hate how it's so hot. I'm thinking that we should all take a trip to the beach," Sakura said, leaning over the various flowers of the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

"I...suppose so," Ino said. "Who are you getting flowers for?"

"For Lee-san. He's in the hospital again from his last mission and he's hurt pretty badly," Sakura picked out a few daisies. "I'll take these. How much will it be?"

Ino sighed. "Zero dollars."

"Really!" Sakura exclaimed. "You haven't allowed me free flowers since our ninja academy days! Thanks so much, Ino. How about if I treat you to lunch today?"

"Yeah, sure," Ino smiled.

"Alright then. See you at lunch," Sakura skipped joyfully out the flower shop.

Ino watched as Sakura left, frowning. "Sakura..."

"Hey, Ino," Shikamaru said, entering the shop. "Sakura was just skipping around with some flowers. She seems to have recovered rather well. You look kinda sad. Argued with Sakura again?"

"No, no," Ino smiled weakly.

"I get the feeling this is the part where I ask what's wrong..." Shikamaru muttered. "But that's too troublesome, so I'll see you later!"

He turned to the door, but the way his blonde teammate gave no demand for him to stay bothered him. Normally he would try to stay away from depressed or angered females, but now was not the time. She needed someone. He sighed. "Alright, what's wrong?"

"Sakura's so happy..."

"You don't want that?"

"No..." she murmured. "Just...I heard some stuff from Naruto. A week ago, we told Sakura about Itachi's memory gain. I had expected for her to cry and break down, but she didn't. In fact, she didn't really do anything. She just smiled and she acts as though nothing as happened."

"I see..."

"It bothers me that she's so polite and happy about it. The day after we told her about it, she recovered immediately and demanded to start working again. I don't know why she's like this. I know she must be sad inside. Why won't she tell anyone?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Seems to me that her being polite and happy and skipping around is her way of replacing the sadness. Just go with the flow, Ino. Maybe all she needs is everyone else's happiness and love."

"Maybe."

"This is so troublesome..."

* * *

"There you go, Kiba. Just be careful with your arm now," Sakura said.

"Thanks a lot, Sakura," Kiba beamed.

The turning of a doorknob stole the two's attention and they looked toward the door to see none other than the Godaime. Sakura smiled. "Good afternoon, Tsunade-shishou!"

"Hello, both of you. Sakura, I see you're doing well," Tsunade said.

"Of course I am."

"Just take it easy, alright? And if you need a break, just tell me."

Sakura frowned slightly. "Take it easy? Need a break? I'm perfectly fine, Tsunade-shishou. In fact, I think I should do more."

"Do more?"

"Yes. I haven't been on a mission in a while."

"There are no missions for you. Perhaps in a few weeks there might be but right now-"

"I think Sakura should get a mission," Kiba interupted. "She's one kick ass medic. If she was on that mission with my team, I bet I wouldn't have to suffer with my arm injury the entire journey back to Konoha!"

"Yeah, shishou, I'm needed out there in the shinobi world."

Tsunade sighed. "Alright...I'll let you go along with Ino's team on their mission. They're leaving in a few hours, I think."

* * *

"Okay, so is everyone ready?" Shikamaru asked, standing at the entrance of Konoha in front of the gate. "Eh...Ino, why do you keep glaring at me?"

"Because you're smart like her!" Ino glowered deadly. "STUPID SAKURA!!! How dare she invite me to lunch and not show up! I got dressed and I was all waiting for her!! ARGH!!"

Chouji opened a new bag of chips. "Well, she is pretty busy with the hospital."

"That is _no_ excuse!"

"Hello, everyone!" Sakura's voice rang.

All three pairs of eyes turned to see the pink-headed kunoichi coming towards them. Ino blinked. "Forehead? YOU DITCHED OUR LUNCH!"

Sakura stopped, gasping. "Oh my gosh...that's right! I'm so sorry, Ino! Kiba was my last patient and I was about to come get you but Tsunade-shishou showed up and she told me that I could come along with you guys on your mission. I was so excited I left home to pack."

Ino inhaled deeply. "Fine. I guess that's a reasonable excuse."

"So what are we doing for this mission?" Sakura asked.

"We're just going to guard a family. They think they are going to be attacked, but Godaime-sama says chances are they won't be attacked. The family always bothers for shinobis because they are paranoid, and so far they haven't been attacked at all," Shikamaru answered.

* * *

It took the group only a few hours of traveling to reach their clients' home. Their clients lived not too far away from Konohagakure, so they were able to travel the afternoon and reach their destination by dusk.

"Hello," a middle-aged woman smiled. "Thank you so much, kind shinobis. We have faith that you will keep our humble family safe."

"Konoha shinobis are the best," an old man, perhaps the father of the woman, smiled. "Please keep us safe."

"You flatter us," Shikamaru answered. "Anyway, we'll do our best to protect you."

A gentle tug on Sakura's skirt drew her attention. It was a little girl, perhaps around seven or eight years old. "You're prettyful."

Sakura smiled, squating down to each the girl's eye level. She gave the girl a gentle pat on the head. "You're very pretty too."

"Is your hair real?" she asked.

"Mimi!" the girl's older brother snapped. "Of course it's real!"

Sakura let out a small giggle.

* * *

Sakura dropped herself onto the bed. There was only one spare bedroom containing a single bed. The room itself was rather plain. They had decided that the two girls would share the bed and the two boys would keep watch. Then the boys would switch with them after a couple of hours.

"I wonder if they'll really be an attack..." Sakura muttered.

"Probably not," Ino said, setting her backpack in a corner.

Sakura frowned. "Damn, Tsunade-shishou...I bothered her to send me on a mission because she told me to take it easy and ask for a break if I needed one...she sent me on this mission because she knew there'd be no attacks!"

"Ah, excuse me," the middle-aged woman said from the doorway. Both kunoichis turned to face her, giving her their full attention. "There is a festival taking place. Why don't you guys come along for a bit and have some fun?"

"Oh! A festival!" Ino squealed. "This is the best mission _ever_!"

Shikamaru appeared by the doorway, followed by Chouji. "Don't get too happy. We're only going to be there for a very short while."

"A festival is a festival," Ino declared. "Therefore, I must be happy."

The woman smiled. "Well then, we will be leaving in about an hour."

* * *

"YAY! Festival!" Ino frolicked around, excited by the beautiful lights and various booths. "Sakura, Sakura! Let's go to that booth! Oh, and that one too! And the one next to that looks interesting!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Ino...stop getting too excited. Remember, we're here to guard."

Ino frowned at him. "You're no fun."

The group walked around with a slightly unhappy Ino. Ino had wanted to go around to many other booths, but Shikamaru wouldn't allow her. Sakura followed behind the group, taking in the sight of the festival.

_Tug. Tug._

It was the little girl, Mimi. Sakura smiled and took Mimi's hand as they followed behind the group. "Hey there, Mimi."

"Hi," Mimi said shyly. "I wish I had your hair..."

Sakura giggled. "It's not that great. As a shinobi, I have to be able to blend in with my surrounding. If I had your brown hair, it would be a lot easier to hide."

"Ooooooooh," Mimi said. "But if you weren't a ahhh...shi...shining...shine...that thing, then you'd be the prettyfullest girl ever."

"Nuh-uh," Sakura responded. "I can't take your spotlight."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Sakura blinked. "Ah...no, why?"

"My grandpapa always says that my mommy was really pretty when she was young and lots of boys wanted to date her. You're pretty, so you must have a boyfriend."

Sakura laughed. "Well, I'm not that pretty. When I was your age, people used to tease me because of my huge forehead."

"No way!" Mimi exclaimed. "I bet lots of guys like you! Yeah! Maybe they're scared you won't like them 'cause you're too pretty!"

"_Is that why you would never feeling an emotion such as love for me? Since you fear me because I am practically a monster and I have the ability to make you suffer to the point you'd wish for death?"_

"That can't be true," Sakura said in a low voice.

"I wanna grow up to be prettyful like you or mommy," Mimi beamed. "Pst...wanna know one of my dreams?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"To get that," Mimi pointed to a booth.

The man in charge of the booth grinned at what Mimi pointed to. "Yes, this beautiful two-peice heart necklace is a wonderful couples gift!"

"A two-peice necklace?" Sakura said.

"_Itachi, Itachi!" she pointed to an object and turned her head to face him._

_He walked up to her to see what she was so excited about._

"_Isn't it pretty?" she stared at the object._

"Yeah!" Mimi exclaimed, staring in awe at the necklace.

_It was a simply yet beautiful two-piece necklace in the shape of a silver heart._

"I guess necklaces are nice," Sakura said.

"Hey! Sakura and Mimi!" Shikamaru called from ahead. "Hurry up! We don't want to lose you two."

"Sakuraaaaa," Ino drawled. "What were you and Mimi doing?"

"Looking at stuff," Sakura answered. "I'm kind of tired from all this walking. I think I'll go back now."

"What!" Ino exclaimed. "NO WAY! You have to stay here!"

"Actually that would be a good idea," Shikamaru said. "Just don't fall asleep when you get back. Guard the house and we'll return in a little while."

"Awww..." Mimi murmured, letting go of Sakura's hand.

Sakura gave her a gentle pat on the head. "I'll see you guys later then."

With that, Sakura walked away from the group and made her way through the crowd of people. She hated to be reminded of _him_. The past week, she had done well in forgetting her troubles. It was odd, really. She remembered when Sasuke left, she was depressed and wanted to bring him back. She had done everything in her power to stop him, and when she failed to stop him, she tried everything to get him to return.

But this was different.

When the news hit her that Itachi had regained his memories and had left the Leaf, she couldn't find it in herself to cry or break down. Perhaps it was because she had been expecting it all along.

She was hurt, but it wasn't the kind of hurt that could be identified with tears. It was that kind of hurt that, when triggered, would make her heart ache and cry out for salvation, but her mind knew there would be no rescue. Crying was useless because it could not stop the aching.

Sakura brought her hands up across her chest, hugging herself as she walked through the woods. The clients lived in a small house a short distance away from the town, and Sakura had barely noticed now how lonely the road was. She picked up the pace, not wanting to remain there too long for fear that she would remember the events with _him_.

When the house came into sight, Sakura inwardly smiled in relief and half ran there, turning the doorknob to enter the house.

Pause.

Something wasn't right.

When they had left the house, she witnessed as the woman locked the door. When she was leaving everyone else to return to the house, she forgot to ask for the key. Why was it that, without a key and with a locked door, she could open the door?

Quietly, she slid her hand down the holster strapped around her hip and pulled out a kunai. She slowly opened the door and stepped inside, making sure to stay cautious of anything unusual. She was careful to make slow and silent steps as she walked through the rooms of the house.

The last and final room she approached was her group's very own bedroom. There seemed to be nothing unusual. She exhaled in relief and walked forward, about to drop herself on the bed.

She stopped.

Her eyes peered through the window before the bed and laid upon a dark, cloaked figure standing a good distance away. Immediately, she dashed around the bed, opened the window and jumped out. Quickly, she brought herself up after landing, still clenching the kunai tightly in her hand and glowering at the figure.

Then there was a silence.

The rustling of the leaves was the only thing heard as Sakura's glower slowly faded away and her mouth parted slightly as she gazed at the red eyes.

She was unsure of what to say. Should she say his name? Should she greet him? Should she fight?

His foot steps drew her attention away from her thoughts, causing her to blink and focus on him. She could only keep silent as he strolled towards her with slow, lazy steps and with each step that brought him nearer to her, she found her breath pacing faster.

He stopped approximately a feet in front of her and her head now lifted slightly to meet his mesmerizing crimson eyes. He wasn't the young boy she had been spending months with anymore. He was taller than her, a lot more powerful and deadly, and even more attractive than before.

Sakura let out a small gasp when she felt his left hand lay on her shoulder, and ever so slowly she found herself gently pushed against his chest. Her hand clenching the kunai unintentionally let the kunai slip through and fall to the ground. "I-"

Her sentence was cut off in the very beginning by her sudden loud gasp in pain and she drew back from him. She glanced down to see he had slashed her thigh with a kunai, and in the blink of an eye he had grabbed her by the arm and slashed it. He dropped her arm.

Ignoring her glare at him, he leaned over to her side and whispered silently. "When the family returns, tell them an Akatsuki member took the scroll. You fought to the best of your abilities but I escaped."

With that, he turned around and began to walk away, leaving Sakura to fall to the ground. She didn't cry when he left or when Naruto and Ino told her about him regaining memories, but now she felt her eyes sting. Now, she felt the tears roll down her cheeks.

"W-Why don't you...Why don't you just kill me?" she muttered through her quiet sobs. "Why give me mixed signals, attack me, and then leave me to suffer?"

He stopped in his tracks and for a moment she sat there on the ground staring at his back.

(1) "Simply because I have the body and life of my twenty-year-old self does not mean that I have forgotten my twelve-year-old self," he said, and then proceeded to walk away.

* * *

"I'm very terribly sorry," Sakura apologized.

The old man sighed. "Well, I guess it's alright. I knew shinobis were after my family scroll. I wanted to keep the scroll safe, but I was more concerned that the shinobis would attack my family. The good thing everybody's safe. It's not a mission failure, since you did fight off that Akatsuki member so in other words, you did guard us."

"I suppose," Shikamaru answered.

"Say, Sakura, who was the Akatsuki member?" Chouji asked. "Maybe if we tell Godaime-sama, she can send someone to try and retrieve it."

"I don't know," Sakura answered quickly. "It was dark. I couldn't see him."

"Well, do you remember what he looked like?" Chouji asked.

"Ahhhh let's just go sleep now!" Ino interupted.

* * *

_Click._

The room flash for a split second and brightened, allowing Sakura to view it. She hadn't been in Itachi's room ever since his departure. His door had always been closed, and so when she was released from the hospital and returned home, she didn't even bother to enter it.

His room was clean as always, unlike Naruto's messy place. She had expected it of him though, seeing has responsible and neat were two of the many verbs that described him. Something was wrong, though. Her fingers found the light switch again and flicked the lights off. Now it was much better. He had always been more of a dark person to her.

She made her way blindly through the room to his bed and gently laid down on it. His scent was still very fresh and for the first time since he left, she allowed herself to feel sad over his departure. She indulged herself in his scent, every inhalation earning tears from her eyes.

-

-

* * *

**Senko:** There you have it :) chapter 11! This isn't the end yet, of course :D

1) I uh...totally forgot -.- how old is Itachi? I'm thinking...he's five years older than Sakura, so in the beginning she was 14 and he was 19. He turned back to his 12 yr old self. Then Sakura had her birthday in March, turning her 15. Then in June, Itachi had his birthday and then he turned back to his old self...so...he's...20, right? o.O;;

Thank you for reading and reviewing :)


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